Tales of Vesperia 2: Ring A Bell
by QueenBlue093
Summary: With aer converted to mana, Terca Lumireis is a whole new world. But what happens when there are people who are willing to disrupt this world. How will Yuri and the gang fight this new enemy that has new and dangerous powers? Rated T for violence and language.
1. Prologue

I'm back! So yeah this story came out later than I thought but here it is.

I love the Tales series so I had to write an original story with them that came to me after listening to the opening of Tales of Vesperia several times. I'm one of those who thinks there is a timeline to the Tales series and I will one of these days I will figure it out. This is the first instalment to that timeline. Maybe this is a spoiler but whatever. This story is sortakinda setting up Vesperia to be the prequel to Tales of Symphonia. So read this probably long story if you're interested.

Also I know other people have taken the title Ring a Bell for their Vesperia fics and I promise I didn't steal that from them! This story has been sitting in my computer for over a year. I only took it because this story was inspired from the song but also because a bell will play a role.

I'm giving way too much information.

**Disclaimer**: I only own the characters that are in this prologue. The characters you all really wanted to read about are going to appear next chapter plus my ocs. Read**, **enjoy, and review.

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><p><span>Prologue <span>

The world, Terca Lumireis, is on the verge of destruction. Everyone knew this since it was right in the sky. The Adephagos. It feeds off aer, the very source to power blastia. Though they had become key in daily life by providing fire, water, and more importantly barriers to protect the cities from monsters they played a role in bringing the catastrophe. And it wouldn't stop until it suck every last drop of aer out of Terca Lumireis; even if it meant converting all life into aer.

The whole world was in turmoil as every man, woman, and child tried to escape the inevitable. To cites that had a barrier and knights or guild members to protect them.

No sane person would be in the middle of Keiv Moc in a down pour of rain. Except maybe a young woman who was on the run from the Knights of Zaphias.

For over a year she had been hunted down by the Empire. She managed to escape their grasp on several occasions but she was getting tired of running. She recently lost the Imperial Knights but they caught her scent once again in Dahngrest, home of the Union that ran all the guilds on Tolbyccia.

Underneath the simple commoner clothes, which were now covered in blood, was light leather armor making it much easier to navigate through the forest of Keiv Moc. Her hair came to her chin and she even had a cluster of long bangs running down the side of her nose that refused to me moved to one side of her face. With her hair wet and plastered on her face it looked like her hair was the color of night. Though her bangs annoyed her it was her eyes that really did. They were amber but one of them had a little green around the pupil. It wasn't very noticeable unless someone looked directly at it but it irritated her. On her wrist appeared to be a bodi blastia, the type that enhanced the users fighting abilities as well as convert the aer into magic. The rusty, monster-bloodied sword she held thumped against the overgrown tree branches as she ran like she was still being chased.

Even if the knights could find her trail in the forest she doubted any of them would actually follow her into the monster infested forest. But she couldn't risk if one of _them _were after her. If they were here she would have no hope. She could outwit the knights easily and even to an extent beat them in a fight. But she wouldn't have a prayer against the Empire's secret knights. So she kept running and stayed high on the road like tree roots.

_You don't have to outrun them forever, Ren. Just a little more and this will all be over, _she told herself. Fatigue was setting in but with her objective all most over it gave her a little more strength. But there wasn't much left in her.

As Ren came near the end of her branch, she leapt on another one only to lose her footing on the wet wood and fall to the soggy ground below. She didn't move for a while. Her body was worn-out from days without sleep, chilled to the bone from the rain, and severely injured from all the monster encounters. It just refused to move, her body demanded rest.

_Maybe…I can close my eyes for just a few minutes_, she reasoned as her eye slowly closed. She wanted so badly to given in and sleep in the mud.

After no time at all, the buzzing sounds of monster wings approaching caused her body to push past the extreme and push herself out of the mud. She gathered the sword that fell a little ways from her and continued running.

Living for the next little bit was her only goal, after that she really didn't care if she lived or died because once the Adephagos was gone from the sky she would be all alone in the world. It was pathetic really; her only friend was what appeared to be a blastia on her arm. Pretty soon it and all the others will be turned into spirits to help defeat the Adephagos.

Very few knew about the spirit conversion and Ren happened to find out that little bit of information by pure accident. But Ren knew it was happening soon because the thing on her wrist told her. Though it appeared to be a blastia it was really an apatheia disguised to look like one. Her grandfather had told her it had been passed down their family for generation. "_Never leave it alone, Ren." _He told her.

Apatheia were crystalized from of aer that are left behind by powerful creatures, which were called Entelexeia, when they die and blastia were made at the expense of the Entelexeia. That part sickened Ren when her grandfather told her.

But Entelexeia's conciseness was supposed to die with it but the apatheia she had somehow still possessed it since it talk to her. But it could very well just be its memories she was hearing since sometimes it spoke complete nonsense. Like one time it said it was a lovely day out and it was raining. Maybe it just likes that kind of weather, she honestly wasn't sure. The only thing she was sure of was that this apatheia had been the only thing that has stayed by her side no matter what.

_Up ahead, _the voice warned her. Her head shot up in time to see two large beetles flying toward her.

Gripping the hilt with both hands Ren quickened her pace and once the one in front was close enough she jumped forward with the sword up cutting the insect in half, making its guts and blood land on her. She barely managed to evade the second one but its razor-sharp pincer cut deep into her cheek. Turning sharply she managed to stab its underside and it fell to the ground.

Standing there panting, the sword felt heavy in her hand and the tip hit the ground with her death grip still on the hilt. There was probably no telling how many monsters she had killed so far and there were still tons left. _There are more coming, _the voice said again. Even though Ren wasn't sure if the apatheia really was talking to her it always was right when it came to enemies. So she began making her sluggish pace forward.

She wondered if she should climb back up the trees for safer measures. But she decided to stay on the ground since she doubted she had the strength to climb back up. Hopefully it wasn't too much longer until the spirit conversion.

_Just a little more, _she reassured herself. Finally she reached as far as her legs would go and she collapsed to the muddy ground. Before her was a large tree that had tiny green particles gushing out of the ground from its roots. Ren was amazed when she realized she had made it to the center of the forest. She knew it was the aer krene in this area.

But very quickly she heard more monsters approaching her.

"For once I would like some rest before I'm forced into a fight," Ren said out loud as she pushed herself into a sitting position to face the upcoming monsters coming for her. There were a lot, most being bug type.

Holding out her hand, a white magic circle formed underneath her. "_Eternal light, ever true and undefined,_ _grant this wanton sinner before me the majesty of thy judgment," _she chanted. An orb of light manifested in her extended hand and flew above the monsters' heads. "_Ray!_"

Beams of light shot out of the orb and struck each one of the monsters. Most were dead but some fled, deciding to wait for her to die before they ate her.

Her arm fell heavily down and Ren rested against the bark of the tree. Though it was rough on her back it still felt wonderful to rest just like the soggy ground did just moments ago. Looking up rain filled sky she knew she would die soon. There was no way she could make it out of this forest in her state and even if by some miracle she did there was no doubt she would have pneumonia. Death held no fear for her; in fact she was getting a little tired of living anyway. Once the apatheia was turned into a spirit there was nothing else for her to live for and she would take the secrets that were held in her body with her to the grave. She smiled at the thought of being reunited with her grandfather and meeting her mother and father for the first time.

She wouldn't be chased or hunted like some animal anymore. There would be no more pain. She wouldn't be alone anymore. Death was sounding like a long last friend.

Suddenly, the air shifted and the apatheia began to glow brightly. _It's time, _it said.

She looked down at the crystal on her wrist and a feeling she hadn't felt since she watched her grandfather die returned. Her chest tightened and there may have been a few tears but with all the rain it was hard to tell. "Thank you…for everything," she whispered to it.

_No…thank you…Goodbye._ As soon as it said that the light grew brighter and suddenly it shot out of the crystal and into the sky. More began to follow after it like shooting stars and soon the whole sky was covered with them.

Had Ren not been in such pain or given up on life, she would have thought the sight as beautiful. The monsters didn't seem to care for the spectacle either as another wave of them were circling her.

"You want me, well come and get me. I've no strength left," she said weakly. As if understanding what she was saying they began moving toward her, but hesitantly as they seemed unsure whether she was going to attack again.

As the monsters made their slow progress, Ren reached into her pocket to pull out her most treasured item. A soft and gentle sound echoed in her hand; a small silver bell. It was the last thing she had of her family. She clutched it to her chest and prayed _I'll be with you all soon; please wait for me. _

But then her eyes shot back open as she felt the mana in her body seemed to gather all in one place in her body. It wasn't painful but it certainly didn't feel comfortable. She happened to look up in time to see one of the many shooting stars heading right for her. The ray of light struck her in the heart causing the concentrated mana to go haywire in her body, like it was using the inside of her body for a punching bag.

A scream of agony escaped her mouth as a bright light filled her eyes. Then like popping a balloon all of it was released from her body leaving her completely drained.

The light slowly faded and her eyes were returned to the dark and rainy forest but this time all the monsters were gone. She wondered if she had done it until she realized there was a source of warmth in her lap.

Slowly, Ren began to look down and what she saw startled her. It looked like a fox curled up on her lap but it was oddly colored and it had _three _tails. It was the same size as a fox but its fur was a yellow, paws were dark purple, and the three tails were a spectrum of green and blue. Out of fear for what it was she didn't dare move even if it was possible for her to do so. But the thing raised its head, which caused her to flinch. It opened its eyes revealing dark but intelligent eyes staring at her.

"You're Ren, the one who carried my core all this time, right?" The fox asked.

She was hallucinating, she had to be. The cold and the loss of blood were making her brain hear and see this…_thing._ Right now the monsters were probably chewing on her bones.

"I asked you a question. I never knew you to be daft, Ren," it said again.

Her muscles relaxed, which she hadn't realized she'd been tensed up, as she looked the creature over again. Hell, if this was a hallucination she might as well play along. "How do you know my name?"

It chuckled, "We've traveled together all your life, I should think it common courtesy to at least know that much about your companion."

She gasped at the realization and quickly raised her arm to examine where the core was. It was gone. "Are you saying you were the apatheia?"

"That's correct, though…I'm not quite sure how that happened. But somehow it is because of you that I am alive again."

"Well…do you have a name?" She had asked it several times when it was still an apatheia but it would never give an answer.

"I'm sure I did when I was once an Entelexeia but I don't remember it. Perhaps you should give me a new one," it suggested.

Ren groaned at that, she hated being put one the spot and coming up with a name no less! She wasn't creative at all! "It's your new life, why don't you pick your own name?"

Shacking its head it said, "No, I prefer you to do it since it's because of you that I have this new life."

She was trying to think of a name for this thing but only common, boring names like Henry or Jake came to mind and they didn't seem appropriate for this multi-colored, talking fox. But like everyone else this thing would probably leave once it got what it wanted so why should she care about his name? So she said the first odd name that she thought of, "How about Verius?"

"Verius?" It repeated, sounding very unsure. But with a heavy sigh it said, "Very well, from this point on I'll be known as Verius." The fox curled back into her lap and she just stared down at him.

"What are you doing?"

A yawn escaped the fox's mouth, "You are far too injured to move from this spot and without me who will keep the monsters from thinking you're dinner?"

It…or Verius wanted to help her? Why though? What was in it for him? Sure she gave him a name but was it really that big a deal? "After that, what will you do?" She asked him.

"Whatever you plan do because the two of us are bounded together. But that's not the real reason, it's because you are my only friend," he answered her.

_Friend? _She hadn't heard that word in so long. Was Verius being sincere about it? She had always thought of him as one when he was an apatheia but he didn't really get a say till now. But a form of companionship was something she always longed for. Maybe this was her chance.

Gradually she stretched her hand out toward him. When she was just inches from his head her hand recoiled slightly in fear her might not want any contact but continued her advance until her fingers felt his fur. It was soft and warm against her numb fingers and she gently began stroking him like a cat.

For the first time in a long time, and probably the last, she let the walls she had built around her fall completely down and let fatigue do with her whatever it wanted because she was going to put her trust in her longtime friend. It took no time at all for her eyes to become heavy and fall completely asleep.

There was a dream, a very simple one but it was nice because she had almost forgotten how wonderful they could be.

/~/~/

"So it's started, huh?" A man with graying hair and a white lab coat said out loud as he walked into the basement lab under Zaphias's castle. Nearly everyone was unaware of what was underneath their feet, only his staff and of course the very person who gave them their orders knew about this room. It was rather dark but the three other researchers didn't bother lighting any candles because their instruments gave enough light for them to do their work.

He rather like the lab the former commandant provided for him and his team to do research on aer and blastia. It was secluded so people wouldn't bother or distract them and there were just so many resources at his disposal. Sure he didn't like working for the former commandant, Alexei, but he was a valuable tool for his real employer. That's all the former commandant was; a tool. It had been so easy for his employer to manipulate that fool into raising the Sacred Shrine of Zaude. It still made him laugh how Alexei thought he was the one pulling the strings when really he was just another puppet.

"Yes doctor," the one female research answered. "The spirit conversion is in effect. Very soon all the blastia will become useless."

The older man would be lying if he said it would be devastating to their research if all the blastia were gone. Don't get him wrong, it was a little disheartening because he had spent more or less his whole life experimenting with them. But he would rather live than die at the Adephagos' hand. On the plus side, all aer was being converted into mana which would help with their next project much more.

He strolled past her and stood in front of a large test tube that was taller and wider than he was and it gave off an eerie green glow. In the center of the tube was a small krityan child floating in the tube. His eyes were open but fully devoid of any emotion or life. After the "incident" this child's body went into self-preservation mode and he hasn't been responsive to anything. "What's the state of Subject Six's condition?"

"Same as he is everyday Doc." A man at the terminal said. "Steady pulse and no responses."

Of course, he should really stop asking that. If something did change his staff would immediately notify him. It had just become routine.

Running a hand through his hair he gave a frustrated sigh. Just what were they going to do with this child? The first experiment preformed on him was a complete failure and even if it wasn't it would be soon. From what he was told, Subject Six went into a state of shock after something traumatic happen and the only reason they were keeping him was so they could get the data from him. But they couldn't if he remained in this state and he was sure this new commandant, Sytho, or whatever his name was, wouldn't appreciate this sort of thing.

Either way it was time to move shop. Hide all the research and move to a more public lab. That last part was what he dreaded the most but that was their employer's wish, hide in plain sight, and they must comply with it. But he still wondered what to do with the boy?

As he began to oversee all the data being transferred the room suddenly grew brighter. For a split seconded the doctor thought the knights were on to them and had come to raid them but he realized that wasn't it.

In the corner was the apatheia that Alexei had acquired when he had captured the princess. Of course, if blastia were being turned into spirits then why not apatheia too? They were basically the same thing. The crystal suddenly began to float in midair until it was in front of Subject Six's tube. Suddenly the light grew brighter, like a flash bomb had gone off, and blinded all of them. Though he couldn't see he heard glass shattering and running water.

Soon the light disappeared and they were left in the dark. All their blastia were now useless so there was no more power for their equipment and so there is no more light. He came prepared though. In his pockets, he brought candles and matches. He pulled them out and lit them.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dim lighting but soon he saw that his researchers were on the ground fearing something was going to explode, which wouldn't be the first time that had happened. Then female researcher suddenly gasped causing everyone to look at what was wrong.

It was the tube that Subject Six was in; it was broken with him lying on the floor. The doctor and his team quickly rushed over to the body. The whole floor was wet from the liquid in the tube and it was still running from it. Before any of them could grab hold of him Subject Six's body began shift. Very slowly he pushed himself until he was in his feet. He was completely unstable and it took some time for him to find his center of balance after some swaying. But soon he stood as if he were still in the tube.

Half of his team's mouth fell as they witnessed the first movement Subject Six has done in a long time. The doctor was the only one that had snapped out of his senses and moved closer to the boy. Moving the candle closer, the doctor saw that while the boy's expression was passive his eyes weren't quite as lifeless like they were in the tube. But there was something off about this child. He'd have to run some test to be certain but that seemed to be the case. He smiled at the possibilities that could happen if his hypothesis is correct.

But first he had to find out how alert Subject Six was. He got eye level with the boy and asked him, "Can you tell me your name?"

There was long pause and just as the doctor was going to give up on him, the boy answered in a lifeless tone, "Vael."

_He speaks! _ The doctor couldn't believe his luck! With this new development there were so many possibilities with their new plans. This new world was certainly going to be interesting


	2. Act One: Mana Thief Chapter 1:Reunion

Act One: Mana Thief

Chapter 1: Reunion

"_What're you doing trying to throw away something so important to you? You should keep it safe!" The swordsmen asked sounding both confused and slightly angry. _

_She couldn't look at him, not yet anyway, so she continued to look at her reflection in the oasis. In her hand was a flower hair pin that was once her mothers. "After I started this journey, I completely forgot about the memento of my mother. I think because I was with you, Yuri…I didn't need it anymore…I hadn't stopped getting lonely…"_

"…_Are you going to get rid of it…?" He asked after a moment of silence._

_Turning to look at him she saw a look that told her that whatever she decides he wouldn't object. He was the first one ever to let her make her own decisions. "We all have to leave our memories behind. Everyone else is living fiercely and not worrying about the past. I need to learn how to grow up and move on too," she tried to explain. Yes, it was time to move on. Nobody else in their party ever dwelt on their past, so why should she._

"_If you don't want it, let me hold onto it for you." He surprised her by saying._

"_Yuri..."_

"_The time will come when you're going to need it. You're going to want to reevaluate who you are. You'll need to remind yourself who you were, and how far you've come. You don't want to make any rash decisions now that you'll regret later."_

/~/~/

"Lady Estellise, we're here," the carriage driver announced, bringing the princess out of her memories. Looking out the window, she saw that the carriage was in front of the castle in Zaphias. She had been so absorbed in writing her memories down that she hadn't realized they'd stopped. The door opened and she closed her notebook to step out into the fall air.

It had become much more pleasant now that she wasn't forced to stay. In fact, she didn't live in Zaphias anymore. The princess now called Halure home. Even though she only got to spend no more than a week at a time there. She didn't mind really, going back and forth between there and the capital. It had been two years since the Adephagos was defeated and they gave up the blastia. Gradually, things were starting to get a little better. They haven't been able to use mana to its full extent yet but they were getting there.

Estellise helped to oversee the production of technology development that uses mana with her dear friend Rita. She also helped out Ioder, who was officially recognized as Emperor just a year ago. Things have been a little hectic with people still panicking about the loss of blastia.

The main problem was the monsters. With nothing but a wall and no barrier people constantly lived in fear of monsters getting into the cities. Estellise shared a similar fear as did everyone else but that fear didn't keep her indoors like it did so many others.

When she wasn't doing official business she spent her free time writing. Ever since the Adephagos was defeated she had been recapping her travels with her friends on paper. Right now she was writing about when they were searching for Pharaoh in the desert. She wasn't sure what she planned to do with it once she was done or really why she started writing it in the first place. Maybe it was to help people understand why they had to give up the blastia. Goddess only knows how many death threats Ioder, the knights, and even Brave Vesperia received just because people were too ignorant to understand.

But it's just like Yuri said, people wouldn't understand and so they would have to make them. Thinking of him brought her thoughts to all her friends. She saw Rita on a daily bases since she not only worked in Zaphias but also worked with the other mages in Halure. In fact Rita was the only person she had told about her book, she had even read parts of it. Judith, Karol, and Raven would stop by Halure when they were in the area but she hadn't seen them for a while. No doubt they had been busy like she was.

Then there was Yuri and of course Repede, who still refused to let her pet him. He used to come by more often, probably to check on everyone in the lower quarter, but like everyone else she was sure he was busy too. She missed those days when her and her friends traveled all around the world trying to save it. Sometimes she wished they could go on another one with them.

She quickly shook her head of that notion. If that were to happen then it would mean something wrong was going on in the world. Certainly not now after all the progress they have done.

Picking up her one bag, she walked up the steps to the castle. As she entered, she partly felt at home since she had spent all her life behind these walls. But in the corner of her mind was a fear that one day she'll come and never be allowed to leave again. Worse, the council would arrange a marriage for her. Now that she had a taste of freedom she didn't want to give it up and she happily blamed Yuri for that. She's not sure what her life would be like had he not taken her out of the castle over two years ago.

Thinking about him, yet again, caused her to worry all the way to her old room. It was something really pointless too. There were certain memories from their journey that she was questioning whether to write. And they all were related to Yuri. Some of their conversations she wondered if she understood them or if he did for that matter.

Then there was the night before they fought the Adephagos. She couldn't sleep and saw that he was up so why not have a chat like they always did. They talked about how far they had come on their journey and very briefly what they would do after the menace in the sky was gone. Estellise had worked up the courage to tell him she wanted to travel more with him. There had been a pause before he said "_Thanks. I feel the same way_"

What did he mean by that? Did he really understand what she meant? Did she? It was just so confusing! After the many times he visited he never once brought up that night but neither had she. It was definitely something she wasn't even considering to write down on paper, mainly out fear he'd see it. Honestly, she was pretty sure she didn't have to worry about that since Yuri refused to read. If she did asked him to read what she wrote he'd probably say something along the lines of, "_I already lived through all that stuff, why should I read about it._"

When she reached her old room, Estellise set her bag on the bed and proceeded to the full length mirror to make herself not look like she had been riding in a carriage all day. She was wearing a light pink dress that went well past her knees and long flowing sleeves. She may not have been properly dressed for court but it was well enough to see Ioder and let him know she had made it one pieces.

Once she found her appearance acceptable she left the room and proceeded to the most likely place Ioder would be; the throne room.

She hadn't gone far down the hallway when she spotted not only Ioder but Flynn as well. Estelle was about to make her appearance known when she heard how serious the conversation was.

"You don't believe he would do these things, do you?" Ioder asked the commandant.

Flynn shook his head. "It doesn't seem like something he'd do. Honestly, I doubt it but we must make absolutely sure if we're going to find out who's really behind the lab sabotage."

Lab sabotage? Now that she thought about she remembered hearing that the lab in Nor Harbor was no longer operational. The Empire had set up labs in varies cities to help with the development of what they were calling Magitechnology. This technology, as the name implies, is run by mana and their hope was to somehow replace the blastia with it. They still couldn't replicate the barriers but so far they have been able to power simple machines for lighting.

She had thought it had just been an accident, but was it really someone's doing? Why would anyone want to do something like this? Mana was much more stable than aer ever was, plus the mages and scientist had been monitoring to make sure another Adephagos wouldn't happen.

"Still though, rumors are already flying around that he's guilty," Ioder said.

"All the more reason to find him so we can resolve this matter."

Ioder happened to looked up and spotted her around the corner. "Oh Estellise, I didn't realize you had arrived."

Flynn spun around looking startled but none the less happy to see her. With no point on standing behind the pillar she came toward them. Flynn bowed to her, "I trust your trip was a safe one, Lady Estellies."

"Yes, there weren't as many monsters out and about as of late," she informed them.

"I'm glad to hear it." Ioder smiled. "I'm sorry to leave you so soon, but I must leave now to attend the council meeting. We'll talk more later."

"Very well," she said before he walked away. That left her with Flynn. She had been wondering how he'd been fairing. The last few times she had come the new commandant had been so busy that they hardly had a chance to exchange hellos. He even looked like he hadn't had any rest. But now he looked to be getting the proper amount of sleep. Sodia must be seeing to that.

"So, Lady Estellies, how are things in Halure?" Flynn started by asking.

"Everything is well, though I do wish things would settle down so everyone can relax more," she admitted.

"That's good," he paused for a brief moment before going to a deferent topic. "I suppose you heard his highness and I talking?"

"I'm sorry," she apologized for eavesdropping. "But is there something going on with the labs?"

"Someone has been going around destroying or breaking equipment beyond repair. This person has even gone so far as to steal research notes from facilities," he explained briefly.

"Why would anyone want to do something like that?" She asked. It was horrible to think this but her first thought went to Judith. Before they had formally met, she had been destroying blastia for the sake of their world. But that couldn't be could it? Mana was much safer than aer, wasn't it?

"Who knows," Flynn sighed. "There is one theory floating around that it's the guilds doing. Even some of the council believes that the guilds are destroying ours so they can take to credit and the profit for magitech."

Estellies wished that wasn't the case. Not only did she not want there to be any conflict between the guilds and the Empire but she also didn't want to believe that someone would want to prolong people's suffering and protection just for profit. Because of her journey she knew that there were people like that in the world; it just saddened her heart to think they would do something like this.

"There only seems to be one person behind all this, or at least only one doing the dirty work. Whoever is doing it, people are starting to call him the Ringing Fox," the commandant added with a more light tone.

"That's quite an unusual name." When Judith went around destroying blastia Karol had started calling her Dragon Rider while Rita stuck with Dragon Freak.

Flynn nodded in understanding. "Though strange, it suits him. Witnesses say this person wears a fox mask and a bell around his neck so the knights always know when he's about to strike. Sadly, the fox always get to them first before they have a chance to do anything. One thing we have been fortunate is that no one has been killed yet."

"Well…this person doesn't necessarily seem to be evil. But I do want to know what's going through his head."

"Don't we all," Flynn agreed but something seemed…off. He was hiding something from her. But what could he possibly be keeping from her?

Suddenly a knight came rushing around the corner toward them. He stood at attention when he reached them. "Commandant, we have Yuri Lowell in our custody," he announced to Flynn.

Flynn let out a breath of relief, "Good, I'll be there in a moment."

The knight saluted and returned to where ever he had come from.

Any normal person would be worried to hear that a friend of theirs was in jail. But this was Yuri; he got in trouble with the law on several occasions causing Flynn or herself to bail him out. However, Estellies wondered what he had done; he hadn't broken any laws (or was at least caught) for several months. "So what has Yuri done this time?" she asked in a light tone. It almost seemed to have become a joke between them.

But Flynn wasn't laughing. "Flynn?" She was worried about what it was he was keeping from her.

"Lady Estellies…" He paused. "Some believe Yuri's the Ringing Fox."

"What? You know Yuri wouldn't do something like that?" she declared; immediately jumping to Yuri's defense. She had been so busy going back and forth between the capital and Halure that she hadn't heard of these accusations.

"Of course I do. But as a knight I have to prove that to the people first. Even most of the council and nobles think he's already guilty."

Yes, he was right. But she couldn't understand why people would think Yuri could be going around destroying the labs. Although…he did have a record of breaking and entering…and a lot of other crimes…actually he very well could be the culprit. But lab sabotage just doesn't seem like the type of thing he'd do. She could imagine that things weren't going well for Brave Vesperia with this kind of rumor flying around.

"Very well, let us go prove he's innocent," she said as she began making her way to the prison. Flynn followed after her knowing it was useless to talk her out of whenever she had made up her mind.

/~/~/

_Geez, how do I always seem to be getting myself thrown into jail? _ Yuri wondered as he made himself at home in his cell. Yeah, he'd been here enough to call this _his _cell. He was pretty sure guards reserved it just for him.

He lay back on his bunk as he waited for someone to come and bail him out. He still wasn't sure why he was here. No one would tell him. They couldn't possibly have found out about what happened in Heilord by now, could they?

Oh well, he'd find out soon enough. Once he was out he could expect a lecture from Flynn. Hopefully Estelle wouldn't be here. She knew full well that he was often in jail but she had never seen him behind bars. He'd rather keep it like that.

After a few hoursYuri opened one of his eyes when he heard footsteps approaching. One of them was of course the commandant's and the other belonged to the princess. _Crap._

"Here to bail me out, commandant?" Yuri teased as he sat up. He tried not to pay attention to Estelle's. She was looking at him like he was wounded.

This was where Flynn would fuss at him and lecture about obeying the law or something like that. Yuri normally tuned him out and just nodded his head. But it never came. Instead the two of them just stared at him. Yuri raised an eyebrow at them and said, "So what, is that a no?"

"Will you take this serious for once!" Flynn snapped. This had to be a new record or something. It only took two sentences for him to get angry this time. Maybe Flynn was planning on leaving him in jail so he would learn his lesson. Whatever lesson that was supposed to be.

"I'm always serious," Yuri defended. Of course that just frustrated the commandant further.

"J-just look at this!" Flynn stuttered as he pulled out a folded piece of paper and held it through the bars for him.

Yuri got to his feet and took it. The paper turned out to be a wanted poster for someone called "_Ringing Fox_" (terrible name by the way) and the bounty was for 15,000 gald! _Damn, who did this guy have to kill to get this over his head?_ "Sooo, what does this have to do with me?" He asked.

"A rumor is going around that the Ringing Fox is you," Flynn answered simply.

"I'm flattered you'd think I'd get into this much trouble, really I am. But there's no way I'm going around and calling myself _Ringing Fox_," Yuri clarified. He'd rather his own face be on the wanted poster no matter how bad it was drawn.

"Yuri this is bad. Most of the council thinks it's you!" Estelle announced.

"That's why you're here. They've already declared you to being the criminal behind all the lab sabotage," Flynn declared.

Lab sabotage? He'd heard just a few murmurs here and there but never really paid any mind to it. He looked back down at the sketch of the criminal. Sure the criminal had long dark hair and clothes similar to his and other than the mask covering his face there was a likeliness between them. He could understand why someone would mistake him for this guy. But was he really someone who'd wreak havoc in a lab? "Seriously?" Yuri asked. "Do you really think I'm the kind of person who'd hide behind a mask?"

"Listen, if you tell me what you've been doing the last few weeks I'll believe you," Flynn told him.

Yuri sighed as he leaned against the bars. "I've been busy doing guild job after guild job with Karol for the last _month_. I wouldn't have time to go anywhere near these labs you're talking about."

Flynn nodded, "We ran into Karol before we came here and he told me where you've been. According to him, the two of you aren't in any of the cities when the labs were sabotaged. Since the time lines don't match up there's no point in keeping you here any longer." He walked out of view to get the keys for the cell, he hoped.

That left him alone with the princess who let out a breath of relief. Yuri cocked his head and gave her a lazy smirk. "What? You didn't seriously think I was this '_Ringing Fox_', did you?"

This caught her off guard. Flustered she said, "O-of course not! I just," she paused as she was trying to say the right words. "I was worried that…"

Yuri started laughing at this. "Good to see you're doing well."

"I'm happy to see you are too," she smiled at him.

"Estelle, I'm in jail," he said with a straight face.

"W-well you know…you're about to get out soon anyway!" Teasing and seeing her flustered like this was one of his few pleasures in life. And of course she just made it so easy for him.

Flynn returned shortly with the keys and unlocked the door making a wonderful click sound. Yuri quickly retrieved his equipment; though the guard looked to be reluctant to give him his sword.

The three of them left the prison but Yuri couldn't help but feel a little agitated. He'd been thrown in jail many times and had been accused of crimes he didn't commit. Like when the knights thought kidnaped Estelle when in reality she asked him to take her. But going to prison because he was mistaken for someone else really bugged him.

As they were walking down the hall a familiar voice of Karol echoed down the marble walls, "Yuuuuri!" Running toward them was the young teen with a bag about as big as him slung over his shoulder. His brown hair was spiked up and had a red kerchief around his neck. Following closely behind him was Yuri's ever faithful companion, Repede. The canine still had a dagger strapped to his side and a pipe in his mouth.

Karol stopped in front of Yuri and looked up at the swordsman with wide worried eyes. "What the hell did you this time?" He yelled at Yuri.

"Nothing. It was all a misunderstanding," Yuri told him.

Yuri was slightly hurt when the teen looked to Flynn for conformation. "There's nothing to worry about. We just needed to mark him off as a suspect, that's all," said the commandant to the young guild master.

Karol relaxed. "Come on, you didn't seriously think I did what everyone thinks I did?" Yuri asked.

"Well you can't blame him for worrin' about ya, boss?" Another voice said. Yuri looked up to see Raven leaning against the wall still wearing the large purple coat that made him look as shady as ever.

"What are you doing here old man?" He asked. Grant it, the three of them had just finished a job together when Yuri was arrested by Leblanc and the tweedles. He would have just beaten the crap out of them like he normally would have had Karol not told him to just cooperate.

The old man made a motion like what Yuri had said had truly wounded him. "I can't believe what I'm hearing from ya! My heart was ready to burst worrin' about your well-being," he said dramatically with false empathy.

"If you were really that worried about me you could have ordered your men not to arrest me," Yuri rebuked.

"For the last time, I don't have any men," said Raven. Thankfully Leblanc and the tweedles didn't follow Raven around, awaiting their captain's next orders, but they still slipped up and call him Captain Schwann.

Before anyone had a chance to say anything else, the large doors from the main hall swung open with an older man stomping toward them and a young krityan boy with a down cast look following him. The older man had almost complete gray hair and half-moon glasses all the way to the bottom of his nose. If Yuri had to guess he was probably one of these lab guys since he was wearing a white lab coat and dark pants. The krityan had to be maybe a year or two younger than Karol. He had short, dark red hair-almost a crimson color- with a dark streak down his bangs that was the same color as his antenna. What was slightly strange was that he was dressed similar to the older man wearing the lab coat but had a dark collared shirt that covered his neck.

"Commandant Scifo!" The older man said angrily. "I've just received word that you're releasing Lowell. Don't tell me you're letting this…this hooligan go just because he's your friend?"

To say this guy was starting to irritate Yuri was an understatement. Before he had the chance to even consider telling him off Flynn stated in a very calm demeanor, "Dr. Vossler you should know I would never do such things. But Yuri is innocent; it would be unjust to keep him locked up."

Vossler just scoffed. "Do what you want. But if that Ringing Fox strikes again and there's even a hint that it's Lowell I will have your head for this commandant." He shot an evil look at Yuri who was more than happy to return it.

Flynn inclined his head to him. "I understand. I'll take responsibility for his actions."

"Excuse me, Dr. Vossler," Estelle interrupted.

"What is it?" He snapped.

That didn't stop her query. "Who is that boy?" She gestured at the krityan.

He looked down like he'd forgotten that he was with him. "Oh yes," he said as he pushed his glasses up. The Doc pushed the kid toward them slightly. "Go on, introduce yourself."

The boy just continued to look down at his feet with a distant look and never muttered a word. Dr. Vossler heaved a heavy sighed, "Apologies, he still has trouble speaking with strangers. His name is Vael."

"Is something wrong with him?" Estelle asked with great worry in her voice. Even Yuri was a little concerned about the kid. Being out of it didn't begin to describe him. If he knocked him down he was sure the kid wouldn't notice it.

"Vael's parents were eaten by monsters right before his eyes. I've taken it upon myself to be his adoptive father." Dr. Vossler explained in a sympathetic way. "He's shown improvement from when I first met him but," he paused to find the right words, "I guess you can say he doesn't like strangers."

There was a brief pause. Yuri couldn't tell if this guy was telling them that just for that sake of it or just to let them know it was their fault since they did away with the blastia. It wouldn't be the first time a person told them that someone they knew died in a monster attack because there wasn't a barrier.

It also bugged Yuri that the doctor was telling them this with the kid right there. He obviously had no idea how to treat children. Then again Vael didn't seem to notice the Doctor talking about his parents.

Estelle dropped to her knees so she was eye level with the boy. "Well, we'll just have to change that. I'm Estellies. It's nice to meet you Vael." She held her hand out to shake his hand.

He didn't accept it. However he did look up at her for a brief moment. "…Nice…to meet you…" Vael said slowly in a very quiet voice. Though his head quickly looked back down at his feet, Estelle beamed with a smile at him talking.

Everyone but the Doc seemed eager about Vael since he said, "Come along Vael, it's time to return to the lab." He nudged the krityan boy back the way they came.

"…Yes," Vael said as he obediently followed after him.

Before Dr. Vossler left, he stopped to glare at Yuri who just glared back at him. "I'm keeping my eye on you Lowell. One wrong move toward my lab and I'll have you rotting in that jail cell."

His threat didn't scare Yuri. "Get in line, there are plenty of people who'd rather have my head."

The doctor remained indifferent after Yuri's comment. But he gave Yuri one last dirty look before turning away to leave.

Once the door closed behind the doctor and Veal, Karol asked, "Who the heck was that guy?"

"That was Dr. Jarvis Vossler," Flynn explained. "His team is the lead developer of Magitechnology."

"In other words the good doctor would hate to see his work go up in flames if it could make him some gald," Yuri added.

"Whether that's true or not it'll be best if you kept your voice down on matters like these. Especially since you _just_ got out of jail for suspicion of destroying labs," Flynn warned him.

Yuri just shrugged his comment away. "Whatever. Could we at least discuses all this over a meal? I didn't get the pleasure of dinning on jail food."

"Seriously. Its way past lunch and I haven't eaten since this morning," Karol moaned after his stomached growled.

"There should still be something in the mess hall," Flynn suggested and Karol took off down the hall toward the food.

Estelle and Flynn followed after the young guild master and Yuri was about to do the same when he notice the old man didn't seem to hear what they said. Normally if it involved food or women he was usually the first one to jump into action. Raven just kept staring at the spot where Vael and that Vossler guy had been with a rather miserable expression. "Hey old man, I think your hearing is going. We're heading to get something to eat, you coming?" Yuri called out light heartedly.

Raven lifted his head up at his nickname being used. He placed his hands behind the back of his head as he said, "Now don't be makin' fun. It won't be long till you're the 'old man' around here." Even his tone was different. Normally after a comment like that Raven would fire up some sort of comeback or defense. But it lack vitality. This one was forced.

"Okay seriously, what's wrong?" Yuri asked. The only time when Yuri would hear that tone out of Raven it was always recalling his time at Mt. Temza when he fought in the Great War about thirteen years ago.

"What makes ya think there's something wrong? I'm just peachy," Raven told him with as much false enthusiasm as Yuri had when he was in prison.

"Give me break," Yuri said getting a little worn-out of beating around the bush.

For moment the two of them just stared at one another. Just when Yuri was going to give up and join the others, the old man decided to share. With a heavy sigh he said, "And here I thought Schwann's past wasn't going to haunt me anymore."

It was rare for Raven to being up the name Schwann. To him and everyone else (other than the ever _diligent_ Schwann Brigade) Schwann was crushed to death in the Baction ruins. Of course during those rare times he always referred to him as a completely different person and in a sense they were different. "So what did Schwann do that's bothering you so much now?" Yuri asked to see if he'd keep talking about it. He was also curious to hear what the former captain of the knights could have done.

But Raven just shook his head. "That kid, Vael, he just reminded me of another krityan boy I met after the war...Let's just say he didn't turn out too good because of Schwann." Without anything more to add he walked past Yuri and disappeared around the corner.

Yuri just shrugged. If Raven didn't want to talk about it, than that was Raven's business. But it caused Yuri's mind to pounder what all Raven had done while being Alexei's puppet. He didn't think too much on it and hurried to the mess hall before Karol ate whatever food was left.

/~/~/

The late lunch was noisy to say the least, especially since Rita joined them. Pissed off didn't even begin to describe the sort of mood she was in. They meet her coming down the hall and called her name a few times but she was completely oblivious of them and even walked past them muttering things about magitechnology being destroyed. It took her almost running into Estelle to finally notice them. Yuri had rather hoped that Rita hadn't gotten wind that he was a suspect of the lab sabotage but there were no such luck.

It took some time for her to calm back down and Yuri had to tell her five times that he wasn't the mask wearing freak going around causing trouble (he'd do that without a mask). When she was done blaming him she followed them to the mess hall in the castle, however, Flynn was called to his knightly duties so it was just the six of them left.

When Karol and the old man weren't stuffing their faces they were telling some outlandish tales that happened back at Dahngrest on some guild job they were on. Rita spent most of that time complaining about the Ringing Fox when she wasn't making fun of Karol and Raven. Repede would even give an affirmative bark or growl at their comments.

Yuri added a few details or denied an event or two but his real attention was on Estelle. She listened to every word anyone said with great interest like she was reading one of her books and never said a word in edgewise. He wondered how she was doing. Was everything going alright for her? The last time he had really talked to her about anything had been weeks ago and that was when she informed him that the council was pushing for her to marry one of the nobles or even worse the new emperor, Ioder. He knew the relation between them was a distant one but it still bothered him thinking about Estelle marrying a relative of hers. In fact any marriage of hers with the nobles irritated him. There was just no way after traveling around the world on a huge adventure to save the whole damn world that she could settle back into the court and do as they say like a puppet

Oh well. Estelle had learned how to stand up for herself so if she didn't want to marry the nobles she wouldn't...Hopefully. So far she wasn't forced into a marriage but they sure were giving her a hard time about it.

The group continued reminiscing well into the evening. If only their krityan friend, Judith, wasn't off on a guild job in Nordipolica then the whole gang would have been together. Yuri and the others could have easily talked well into the morning if the royal knights hadn't showed up into the mess hall for supper. That was their que to part ways.

With Yuri's little detour with the knights he, Karol, Repede, and the old man would have to leave early so they can return to Dahngrest for their next guild job. Though Estelle looked a little disappointed that they were leaving so soon she promised she'd see them off and even Rita grunted in agreeance.

Yuri head back to his old room in the lower quarter while Karol and the old man headed to the inn. It was dark by the time he got there since everyone he saw stopped and wanted to know where he'd been. Ted wanted to hear all that he's been doing and Hanks commented on how he was surprised Yuri wasn't dead yet. Finally he had to tear himself away from everyone so he could retire to his bed.

Everyone looked to be doing good which put one part of Yuri's fears to rest. He had wondered if the lower quarter was alright without the aqua blastia or barrier. But the knights seemed to be doing their job and were protecting the people. _All_ of the people.

It was nice being back in his old room. It was also fairly peaceful; something Yuri hadn't had in months. Repede headed straight over to his mat in the corner.

"Too bad we can't stay and sleep for about a week and a half," Yuri said to his partner.

The canine gave a soft wine before he lowered his head onto his paws.

Yuri sat in the windowsill like he always did and just watched the nightlight of the lower quarter. Though he was exhausted from the recent events he wasn't ready to turn in just yet. He knew that the moment he closed his eyes he would be opening them again to start the next day. Plus it had been weeks since he was last in Zaphias and he would have like nothing more than to mingle with everyone and catch up. However he knew if he didn't use this time for sleep it was going to be hell tomorrow. He never remembered feeling this tired.

_Listen to me, I'm starting to sound like the old man_, he commented lightly. Yuri had always prided himself on his youthful energy but with the never-ending battles against the monsters and no end in sight it was beginning to take its toll on him. Karol passed out from exhaustion every night and somehow the young guild leader never complained. They were the ones who changed the world so they sure as hell shouldn't be the ones to whine about the way things are.

With that though in mind Yuri got up from the window and walked over to his bed to catch some much needed sleep. He took off the belt around his waist and was in the process of taking his boots off when Repede's head lifted up followed by a knock on the door. _Who in the world? _Yuri wondered.

He quickly crossed the small room in two steps and opened it to reveal his guest. "Estelle?" He said in disbelief when he saw the princess standing across the threshold. Yuri had expected Hanks, Karol, or even Flynn, but never Estelle. She was dressed in brown pants and even had a white overdress that was a little shorter and less big looking than the one she wore on their journey. Her pink hair was still pinned up as before.

"I'm sorry, you weren't sleeping were you?" She asked just now thinking that.

"No, I actually just got in." Yuri looked around and saw no one else around. Estelle may have had more freedom but there was no way Flynn or Ioder would allow her out on her own in the capital, which means the princess snuck out. Yuri couldn't help but smile inwardly at the thought that he was being a bad influence on her. No doubt that would be Flynn's next lecture. "You want to come in?" Yuri asked her.

She nodded and Yuri stepped aside to let her in. She had never been in his room before and seemed to take interest in studying it. There wasn't much stuff in his room but a good layer of dust had collected over everything. "Sorry for the mess, I haven't been here in weeks and the innkeeper leaves this room be," Yuri explained. Honestly, he wished she'd just rent it out to someone who paid instead of leaving it open to him. He made a mental note to leave some gald for her when she wasn't looking in the morning.

Estelle seemed too busy with her on thoughts to really hear him. He recalled too many time on their journey when she spaced out like this. Yuri sat at the edge of his bed. "So would the princess care to tell me why she's gracing me with her presence?" he asked in a non-serious way.

That was enough to catch her attention. "I only wanted to talk to you," she defended, not catching on to his joking.

He laughed a bit. "So what does her highness which to discuss with a lowly guild member?"

"Oh, will you just let it that go," Estelle muttered as she turned a chair at the little table to face him. When she sat down she said, "I was just wondering where you all are planning to go for your next guild job."

"Can't really say," he stared. "We're heading back to Dahngrest but no doubt we'll being doing more jobs on the way there." They couldn't pass a city without helping someone.

There was a brief pause when the two of them just looked at one another. Yuri could tell she really didn't sneak out of the castle just to ask about travel plans. She could have asked when everyone was together. But instead of prying he just waited for her to tell him.

Finally she said, "It was nice seeing everyone."

Yuri nodded. "Shame it doesn't happen very often. Maybe in a couple of years things will quiet down and all of us can have remotely normal lives." That is if this so called 'Ringing Fox' doesn't stop destroying this technology that's supposed to replace the blastia. He just hopped that it was the competition destroying the Empire's labs (and that they'd stop pretending to be him) and this person isn't pulling something like Judith did with the Hermes blastia. If it was just competitors then they could just kick their ass and be done with it. But they already saved the world once from technology that caused the Adephagos. He really didn't want to defeat another thing in the sky that would devour all life on Terca Lumireis.

"Do you think…" Estelle stopped for a moment. She seemed to be picking her words out carefully. Yuri couldn't understand why she was doing that, she had never had much trouble telling him what was on her mind. Then she said, "Do you think I could…come with you?"

The last part was said in almost a whisper, like she was afraid the walls had ears, but Yuri could hear her just find. "I wouldn't have a problem with it and I know Karol would love for you to come. But what about the Empire? I thought you were helping out with all the political stuff between the knights and the guilds?"

"Well I have, but last year the council elected a new head, Lady Lilith Nightheart. She's been taking over a lot of the things I've been doing, she even started my idea of a literacy program for children which took off much faster than I anticipated. I'm pretty much just a figure head now."

Other than helping to keep peace between the guilds and the knights, Estelle had a personal goal to have both the Empire and the Union provide resources for children, regardless of their economic status, so they could learn to read. It certainly would help the poor if they knew their letters. She had been so determined to see this through when she first explained it to him. The program may be working but only because Nightheart did it.

He recognized name Nightheart. She was supposedly part krityan but lacked the anntenm. "Nightheart, isn't that the woman who made a whole new branch of knights?" From what Yuri heard, the knights belonging in this group were supposed to be the best of the best. But other rumors he's heard were saying a couple of them had some sketchy past and weren't quite knight material. Then again was anyone really?

"Yes, the Holy Knights. I recently heard there are five members in that group. From the reports I've read they've been very successful in protecting people. Just one of the Holy Knights is enough to fight back a pack of monsters," Estelle briefly explained. That was pretty impressive. Without the bodi blastia it was difficult finding anyone who can slay a single monster. But a whole _pack? _That seemed unlikely.

"Are you sure you want to leave?" Yuri asked her to make sure she thought this through. It wasn't that he didn't want her to come with him, in fact he'd enjoy traveling with her again. But they all had to do what need to be done during these difficult times.

The princess nodded. "I've thought about it lot. With all the blastia gone healing arts aren't as effective as they use to be. But my healing arts haven't changed. I think I would do more good healing people then I would by staying here," she explained.

"Sounds good to me. In the morning we'll go talk to Flynn about letting you leave. If his answers no I suppose we'll just have to steal you away again," he told her with a wink.

Estelle looked surprised by his answer. "You really mean that?"

"Of course. What? You thought I would say no?"

"I suppose I thought of that as a possibility." A relieved smile came over her face which caused Yuri to do the same.

"I almost hate to interrupt such a touching moment," a new voice suddenly announced.

Both of them looked at the window and there sitting casually on the windowsill was the old man. _Don't tell me he's been sitting there this entire time,_ Yuri wondered as he looked at Raven tiredly. If he had been then it was surprising that he hadn't opened his big mouth tell now. "What is it old man? Weren't you the one complaining about not having enough time to sleep?"

Stroking the stubble on his chin Raven said, "I may have but I just heard a rumor that might interest you."

"I'm not interested, especially if it has anything to do with one of your scams." Certainly not when they would have to wake up early in the morning and somehow Yuri was going to have to convince Flynn to let Estelle go with them as well.

There was a sly smirk that crossed the old man's face. "Not even if it has to do with a certain person whose calling themselves Ringing Fox?"

This caught Yuri's attention. "What about him?"

"Oh ho. Now you're interested in what old Raven has to say? Well our little genius mage is the one who told Karol and myself. Some of the knights are claiming to have seen him here in this city. Of course they could have just seen you but-"

"But if it was me they saw then they would have tried to arrest me." There was no way word that Yuri was innocent would have traveled far within the knights. The damn copycat might actually be in this city. He only found out about this fox just a few hours ago but he's been itching to give that guy a good punch in the face ever since.

"There's a mana lab in the city. You don't think he's going to destroy it, do you?" Estelle asked sounding worried.

"If that's what he likes doing then probably," Yuri said as he got up and put his belt back over his waist. He then picked up his sword that was resting against the foot of the bed. "Come on Repede."

A whine came from the canine as he lifted his head up. But he followed Yuri regardless. The two of them walked out of the room but Estelle ran after him. "Where are you going?" She asked.

"I just thought I'd head over to the lab and if I happen to run into the imposter I'll just have a _polite _conversation with him," Yuri explained sarcastically.

Estelle stood in front of him. "If you run into him it'll be anything but polite. Besides, Dr. Vossler said he didn't want you anywhere near his labs."

"I'm not just going to stand around and let some guy pretending to be me do more damage," Yuri told her. He honestly wasn't sure this imposter was trying to be him on purpose but he didn't care. Plus he didn't like that someone was destroying ways to keep people safe.

"Fine then, I'm coming with you," Estelle claimed and started walk down the steps past.

"Estelle! You don't even have a weapon," Yuri called after as he was catching up with her.

"I still have my magic. Besides, someone will have to vouch for you when you get in trouble for going near the labs," she rebuked him calmly.

That was true and this guy has yet to kill anyone but still. He didn't want to put Estelle in danger even though she can take care of herself for the most part. Before he could say anything else a hand rested on his shoulder. "Just let her come, there's no changing a woman's mind," Raven said to him before he followed after her.

_Especially not that one,_ Yuri couldn't help but think. With a heavy sigh Yuri accepted defeat and headed down the stairs and saw not only Raven, Estelle, and Repede waiting for him but Karol and Rita as well who looked battle ready. The gang was back together.

Yuri smirked at the idea and all of them followed Rita to the lab. _Okay Ringing Fox, get ready to have your ass kicked!_

/~/~/

**Z-Skit:**

**Estelle**: Why do think someone is trying to destroy all the mana technology?

**Yuri**: Who cares? I'm still going to kick their ass for pretending to be me, whether it was intentional or not.

**Karol**: But what if this guy has a good reason for what he's doing like Judith.

**Yuri**: He can explain after I've beaten the crap out of him. *Goes on ahead*

**Estelle**: Yuri sounds madder about someone pretending to be him than the labs being destroyed.

**Karol**: Well can you blame him? I'd be pretty peeved too if I was being blamed for something I didn't do.

These skits will get better.


	3. Chapter 2: Ringing Fox

Read**, **enjoy, and review.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 2: Ringing Fox<span>

There were less people out and about at this hour as Yuri and the others headed to the mana lab in Zaphias. Almost in the center of the city was where the lab was located, just below the noble's quarter. The street laps were no longer lit by blastia and had to be lit every evening manually with flames. The lower quarter didn't have such luxuries when blastia were around so they were used to things like that. But the rest of the capital was finding it difficult to adjust. Yuri even once heard some high society people saying they felt like they were back in primitive time, like any of them would know what that was like.

Hopefully they were right and the bastard that called himself '_Ringing Fox'_ was here. Oh Yuri couldn't wait tell he got his hands on him and neither could Rita for that matter.

"If only my magic was the same as before so I can torch that stupid fox right there or even open up the ground and have him swallowed up," was just some of the things she said. Magic is also an issue with the lack of aer. Some people, like Rita, could still cast it but only at a small fraction of what their spell's power was. Rita carried a large scroll on her back that had spell formulas written on it to help with her casting. It was only Estelle who kept all her power intact with the conversion of mana.

"Rita darlin', you wouldn't mind saving some of that spunk for when we actually run into this guy?" Raven suggested.

"Shut up. If I want to raise some hell then I'll do it. This guy's not getting off easy, especially after all the hard work I've put into this lab."

"How's about you all stay quiet so both the knights and the fox don't hear us coming," Yuri offered.

Rita didn't voice her opinions but she folded her arms and started mumbling things Yuri couldn't comprehend. Hopefully Rita would direct all that pent up anger on the guy who'd been framing him.

Finally Rita guided them through the alleyway that would lead them in front of the lab. Yuri thought it was strange that the lab was set up sort of cut off from the rest of the city and the fact someone could only get to it was through an ally just looked shady. Then again it could have just been to prevent regular people from entering at random.

The lab looked plan and was only one story with no windows. It looked incredibly small but then again most of it could be underground.

Up ahead was the person Yuri really hoped he didn't have to deal with till the morning; Flynn. _Crap, _Yuri couldn't help but think. By the entrance there was an unconscious knight (it was hard to tell because of the helmet) and another one that looked to be trying to help the knight wake up. Standing next to the commandant was his ever diligent Second-in-Command Sodia. Yuri would be lying if he said he didn't have a problem with her. It was mainly the fact he still didn't fully get over the fact that she tried to kill him that one time and attempted to arrest him at the worst possible time; like when they were trying to save Estelle from Alexei. He understood completely why she did what she did. Hell, if their roles had been revered he'd probably do the same thing. But that didn't mean he could forgive someone who tried to kill him that easily.

Flynn noticed them before they even exited the ally and he had that disapproving look of his. "You just got the charges on you dropped and now you're here at a lab. Yuri you have to realize how bad this looks right? And you brought Lady Estellise with you!" He sounded more upset about the last part.

"You know as well as I do she does what she wants," Yuri told him. This earned him a small pout from Estelle but she quickly walked over to the unconscious knight to see if her healing arts would be of help. "So is it true? Is the Ringing Fox here?"

"And if he is?" Flynn asked. "It's going to be hard to prove you're innocent if the real culprit gets away."

He knew Flynn was just trying to look out for him but the commandant had more things to worry about than a friend who keeps getting himself in trouble. "Then let's not let him escape," Yuri told him.

"It's best not to try and stop us," Raven added, "this Ringing Fox has been framing one of our own. As you may know we guilds don't take kindly to such things."

"That's right, this concerns Brave Vesperia just as much as the knights," Karol stated.

Before Flynn could say anything, Sodia alerted him to the knight who was now conscious. Flynn knelt down next to the knight and asked, "Can you tell us what happened to you?"

The knight seemed startled that the commandant was here by the way he was speechless. But he shook his head. "…All I remember is hearing a bell, I thought maybe it was a cat or something but then…it's all blank after that."

"That's alright. Just head back to the castle and tell the other knights that the Ringing Fox is here," Flynn said to him. He stood back up looking at his two available knights and then at Yuri's group. "It sounds like the Ringing Fox is here and with that we have probable cause to search the lab. We don't have time to wait for reinforcements. Sodia, you and Jones wait here for the other knights to come and set up perimeter. Make sure the culprit can't escape. If Brave Vesperia would care to lend a hand, I'll head into the lab with them?"

"Commandant, are you sure about this? What about the princess' safety?" Sodia asked. She may have been talking about Estelle but she was really meaning Yuri. Like him, she wasn't too comfortable working around him for the same reasons.

Flynn certainly didn't like putting Estelle in harm's way but he knew just as well as Yuri it would be more difficult escorting her back to the castle. "I'm sure Lady Estellise will take precaution to stay out of harm's way. So far the criminal hasn't killed anyone but that could change. So be ready for anything." Flynn drew his sword and headed into lab. It was late and so none of the workers should be there meaning there was less chance of a bystander getting injured or worse.

"Let's just hope we're not too late," Yuri commented as he followed Flynn into the lab.

It was dark inside the mana lab and just as Yuri thought there were a set of stairs leading underground. But right inside there was another knight who was unconscious. He must be one of the guards for the lab. Estelle hurried over to the fallen knight and was about to use her healing arts on him when Flynn stopped her.

"We have reinforcements on the way so they can take care of him," he whispered. "If we're going to catch this guy we need to move as quickly and quietly as we can." She nodded and so they all started to make their way to the lower levels.

Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, however, Yuri realized that it was going to be more difficult finding the Ringing Fox. There were four separate hallways that looked to branch out into more hallways. Not to mention the light source was on top of the walls and it gave off an eerie green glow that made the shadows jump out. It certainly was creepy.

They started talking about splitting up when Repede started growling down the corridor on the far left. The canine smelled someone else down there. Yuri was never one to doubt his faithful partner so he wordlessly proceeded down the hall.

"Wait a minute Yuri," Karol whispered.

Yuri stopped and looked back at him. "I'm going to catch this fox bastard. You all are welcome to come." He then kept on walking with Repede by his side. Eventually everyone else followed out of worry about what Yuri might do if he ended up with the Ringing Fox alone and also trusting in Repede's nose.

As they came near to where ever the hallway led they could hear a low murmur of a machine running. The walls and floor gave off a slight vibration that would come from some large machine. Under that, Yuri was able to hear a constant tapping noise.

"That sounds like the mana collector!" Rita declared. "It's not supposed to be running at night or it'll overheat."

"What exactly does it do?" Yuri asked. He was sure it was the Fox who had turned it on and he didn't want any surprises if the intruder decides to use the technology on them.

"All it does is absorb mana. It's similar to what the blastia did with aer. All the other mana technology is hooked up to it to power them since we've yet to figure out how make them self-sustaining," Rita explained like she always did. "But if that fox freak destroys the mana collector it'll be months until it's repaired and none of the mana technology in the city will be functional until then."

"Sounds like this fox knows more about this technology then we thought if he's knocking the whole grid off," Raven said.

_That makes him all the more dangerous_, Yuri thought. This Ringing Fox wasn't just someone who was vandalizing the labs; he planned to hit them where it hurt and make sure they weren't going to operate for a while. Thankfully the mana tech was only used by the scientist and mages who were preforming experiments. Common people didn't have access to them yet so the imposter wasn't hurting them directly but he was preventing the development.

"Come on, let's hurry and stop this guy," Flynn urged taking the lead this time.

They quicken their steps since the awakened machines hid their approach. Yuri felt his hand tighten around his sword. He couldn't wait to use it on the guy who was pretending to be him.

The opening to a large room that the mana collector was held in was close and so the group slowed down. They split and stayed close to the walls so they could still surprise the intruder. The Ringing Fox hadn't killed anyone else but neither has he been in an open conflict. Estelle wasn't armed and Rita's spells took too long to cast if they were going to do any real damage. Yuri wondered if the fox would leave the girls alone.

But there were still five of them that could fight: him, Flynn, the old man, Karol, and Repede. Five against one? The odds didn't sound bad. But there had to be a reason why no one had fought this guy yet. Most likely, he was quick and sneaky. Maybe that was why he wore a fox mask.

Yuri and Flynn were both by the opening to the mana room to inspect the area. Most of the room held a large brown machine with colorfully lights all over it. Just like the halls, this room had the same green glow as its lighting. It reminded Yuri a lot of being inside of Heracles. But his attention was soon on the raised platform in front of the mana collector.

A figure was standing in front of one of those holographic keyboards that Rita and other mages used to work with blastia (Yuri never understood exactly what it was). This person was dressed in dark boots, dark pants, and a long dark shirt. The guy even had long hair! Through the dim lighting, Yuri could make out pointed ears that must have been part of his mask. This was the Ringing Fox who everyone was mistaking for Yuri.

Yuri wanted to rush toward this guy and rip the mask right off to see who it was but Flynn grabbed his arm before he could even step into the room.

They only had to wait just a few minutes to determine if there was anyone else. But it looked like he was the only one there tapping away on the keys. But waiting became too much for Rita as she ran into the room all of the sudden. Hell hath no fury than a mage when their work was being destroyed.

"Step away from that machine!" Rita shouted as she stepped into her pose like she was about to cast a spell.

The intruder flinched when he heard Rita. The holographic key board disappeared and he slowly turned to finally face them. Yuri and the others quickly joined her with weapons drawn. Now that they were closer and the imposter was facing them, Yuri could see more details. The guy was wearing an orange fox mask that had small eye slits. Around his neck was also a small sliver bell that he was depicted in the wanted posters. His clothes were also too big for him. Unlike Yuri, the Ringing Fox's shirt was buttoned all the way up to his neck and one of his sleeves covered his hand while the other looked like it was ripped at his elbow. But his skin on his right arm wasn't exposed since there was a leather arm guard. Lastly, there was an unsheathed sword tucked through his belt.

Seeing the Ringing Fox face to face, Yuri could see why people could mistake him for the crimes. But that didn't mean people had to just assume it was him. The longer Yuri looked at the imposter the quicker his anger began to rise. But the group already had one person who was being hot headed, they didn't need two.

Flynn raised his sword toward the imposter and said in a commanding voice, "As commandant of the Knights of Zaphias, I hereby place you under arrest. Come down slowly and quietly and no harm will come to you."

For a moment the Ringing Fox just stared down at them. It became evident that he had no intention of surrendering, especially when his right hand began to glow blue.

In a swift motion, the imposter pivoted around to the machine and punched the controls, smashing them beyond repair. Instantly, the noise the machine had been making was silenced. Yuri wasn't familiar with the arte he used but it shocked Yuri to see how powerful it was. People could still use their artes even without blastia but they weren't as strong as they use too. Even Yuri's artes were just a quarter of what they once were.

"You bastard!" Rita yelled as she cast one of her signature spells. A small fireball about the size of a fist was quickly formed and shot toward the fox.

But he imposter was quick and jumped off the platform making the fireball spell hit the machine, further damaging it. The fox landed in front of them gracefully. He then pulled his sword free with his left hand and pointed at them.

The fox's stance implied that he at least knew how to hold a sword and probably had a few lessons on swordplay. But was he any good?

Yuri felt a grin come across his face as flung the sheath off his own sword. "Looks like someone wants to fight," he said as he got into his regular fighting pose. As much as he was worried about Estelle and Rita, he couldn't help but feel a tinge bit of excitement now that he'd be able to get back at this imposter.

"Please," the Ringing Fox pleaded. His voice was a lot higher and softer than Yuri would have imagined. At least he wasn't trying to sound like Yuri. "I don't want to hurt anyone. Just let me go and forget I was here."

"You've got to be kidding me! There's no way I'm letting you get off that easy after what you've done!" Rita snapped.

"This is your last warning, come quietly and answer for your crimes," Flynn repeated.

"Why? So I can have my throat slit while I wait for a trial? No thanks. There are still things I need to do and a promise to keep," the fox answered.

Suddenly, the Ringing Fox dashed toward them and swung his sword in a wide arc toward Flynn. But anyone, probably even the tweedles, could block it, which Flynn did with ease.

Before the imposter had a chance to regain himself, Yuri ran over and went to stab at him. But the fox was sharp and quick, so he dropped down to evade Yuri's attack. In the blink of an eye, the fox had retreated out of the swordsmen reach and was holding up his own sword in defense.

_This guy is no stranger in a fight, _Yuri thought as he stared down his opponent. It shouldn't surprise him after the arte the imposter displayed just moments ago. Yuri wasn't worried about the imposters since he had fought many people who had stronger artes.

The others were standing in front of the exit and Yuri and Flynn were between them and the imposter. The fox wouldn't be getting away easily. If the imposter was smart, he would just give up since he was outnumbered and his escape was slim. But something was telling Yuri that he had other plans.

Flynn lowered his sword in attempt to resolve this with as little fighting as possible. Honestly, Yuri would rather beat the imposter to a bloody pulp. "I'm not sure what has caused you do this, but if you are afraid for your life I can guarantee you'll be safe until your trail," Flynn tried to reason.

But Yuri heard the fox scoff underneath his mask. "You knights. You speak of valor and of protecting the people. But you've done no such thing in this new world. You better be ready to kill me because I'm not leaving this place alive with you," the imposter said sounding very serious.

"Fine," Yuri spoke up. "I prefer beating you until you're unconscious. So bring it!" Yuri charged toward the imposter.

He swung his sword once again but this time the imposter tried to parry. But Yuri struck the sword with such force that the imposter lost his grip on his own weapon and it flew out of his grip. Before Yuri could switch his sword to his other hand for the next attack the imposter jumped back a great distance away from Yuri.

The imposter did not retrieve his discarded sword or even spare a glance at it. Instead he crouched down and pulled out a dagger that was hidden in his boot. His stance resembled a thief's which seemed to suit the fox better than trying to imitate a swordsmen.

Moving much faster, the imposter charged toward Yuri again but this time he kept the knife closer to his person. Yuri had just enough time to redirect the attack. Any other move would have left Yuri with some kind of injury.

But after the imposter was redirected at Yuri's side he kept running right toward Flynn. He made a swipe at Flynn again but it wasn't nearly as wide a swing as the first. Once again, Flynn successfully blocked the attack.

They were at a standstill. But Yuri caught sight of the imposter lowering his right hand and it began turning blue again. "Flynn, look out," Yuri shouted.

The commandant looked down just in time to see the Fox's hand reaching toward him. Flynn put more force in his sword and pushed the imposter away from him before he could attack. The fox staggered backwards for a moment and his hand was still glowing.

"You're mine!" Karol shouted as he came up from behind the imposter with his hammer above his head. The fox seem startled that Karol managed to sneak up on him; even Yuri was surprised at his swiftness. But to his dismay the Fox sidestepped to avoid Karol's attack. Once the young guild master's hammer struck the ground the imposter dealt a swift kick to Karol's side that made him fall over.

Before the imposter had the chance to attack Karol again, Repede dashed with his own dagger in is teeth and swiped at the fox. Repede managed to make a small cut at the imposter's thigh. Repede didn't pursue. Instead he kept his ground to defend Karol and Estelle, who had rushed to Karol's side.

The imposter didn't have time to realize if he was injured since an arrow, which could only come from the old man, flew toward the imposter. The imposter managed to evade but the arrow only scraped some of the paint off the cheek of the mask.

To Yuri's astonishment, the Fox's hand was still blue which meant that he was ready to use his arte at any time. After all that the imposter hadn't lost his concentration to use the arte. That thought made the imposter seem more dangerous.

Raven didn't let up his attack, arrow after arrow was fired at the imposter. They came close, but none of them managed to hit their target. The only thing Raven accomplished was to distract the imposter long enough for both Yuri and Flynn to get the jump on him.

The two swordsmen never let up on their attacks. They kept attacking as fast as they could but the imposter, remarkably, either dodged or blocked completely. And still, the imposter still had his hand glowing.

Soon Yuri saw an opening. Yuri wouldn't be able to do the finishing blow, he wasn't sure if he would be quick enough to do a second attack before the imposter could use his arte on him. But Flynn was on his heels, he could finish it.

Yuri grasped the handle of his sword with both hands and, with as much strength he could muster, he swung at the imposter's left hand that held his dagger. He failed to get the imposter's weapon out of his hand but now he was wide open. As expected the fox started to swing his glowing right hand at him but Yuri was already out of his range.

Flynn didn't miss a step. Before the imposter could even realize that there was another attack, Flynn managed to cut deep into the imposter's left shoulder. He nearly cut the Fox's arm off. Blood spewed everywhere. Most landed on Flynn and the Fox but some sprayed across Yuri's face.

But the injury didn't stop the Fox's arte. His glowing fist kept moving right toward Flynn.

The next thing Yuri saw was Flynn flying toward him. His friend crashed into him and they fell to the floor, knocking the breath out of Yuri. Both of them lost their grip on their weapons. Yuri wasn't sure which hurt worse, Flynn's weight or his armor. Either way he felt like his chest was flatten. He would definitely be sore if he ever got to sleep.

That didn't matter. Yuri quickly tied to shove Flynn off as the commandant tried to scramble to his feet. Yuri was up first and directed all his attention to the imposter.

The Ringing Fox's hand was no longer glowing but it was now clutching his shoulder in order to stop the bleeding. He was shaking and all Yuri could hear were ragged breaths coming from underneath the mask. It slightly impressed Yuri when he didn't hear the imposter cry out in pain after Flynn nearly cut off his arm. But what was truly sad was that the imposter still had an iron grip on his dagger even though it probably caused him great pain and he was even trying to lift it up to defend himself. He must truly be desperate.

"Put that down before you hurt yourself," Yuri told him simply. This guy had enough and if this lasted any longer than the imposter was going to die without giving them any answers.

"I told you…" the imposter whimpered but tried to keep up the tough guy routine, "…the only way you're taking me is over my dead body." Try as he might, he couldn't hid the terrible pain he was in.

"Oh no, you're not going that easily," Rita shouted at him. "I'll knock you out myself if I have to."

Suddenly Estelle start taking small steps toward the imposter. Yuri was ready to dash toward her if the imposter made the slightest move toward her. But he remained where he was because, whether he like it or not, Estelle need to heal him.

She stopped right beside Yuri. "Your wound is still bleeding," Estelle said in her calm voice. "Let me heal you and then we can figure something out."

The princess took another step toward the Fox but he backed away like Yuri was coming at him again. "Stay away from me!" He shouted like he was terrified of the princess. He somehow managed to lift his dagger all the way to stomach.

Estelle looked baffled at the imposters

_This is getting out of hand, _Yuri thought. "Look," he said, "your trapped. It's over. Now give up or bleed to death."

"Am I?" The imposter questioned. He slid his dagger into his belt and his hand fell limply at his side. But then a small cylinder appeared in his hand. With a small motion, he tossed it toward them.

It rolled a little ways toward them. Yuri instantly ran toward Estelle to place himself between her and the object since it was closest to her. By the time he grabbed her there was a blinding light that caused Yuri to duck Estelle's head down. He managed to close his eyes in time.

By the time he opened his eyes again the darkness returned to the room and the imposter was long gone. Yuri gritted his teeth in frustration. But there were other things to worry about other than the masked freak. "Is everyone alright?" He called out. He knew Estelle was fine.

He looked behind him and saw that they were a bit disoriented but physically fine. Some of them gave an affirmative noise. Karol, however, was on the ground. "My eyes hurt," he mumbled.

"That's because our friend had a flash bomb," Raven told him. "They tend to do that if you don't cover your eyes in time."

"A bomb?" Yuri repeated. "If the Fox knew how to make one of those then why didn't he just blow up the whole lab instead of destroying it with his bare hands?" Yuri didn't know much about the craft but a flash bomb couldn't be any more difficult to use or make than one that exploded. Then why wouldn't he use them?

"Maybe he really doesn't want to hurt anyone. A large explosion would be hard to control and so a lot of civilians could have been harmed," Estelle said. She was no longer by Yuri's side and was instead by Flynn healing him.

Yuri hadn't notice the damage Flynn received from the Ringing Fox's arte. The armor just below his left arm was completely obliterated and was replaced with blood. Though Flynn looked to be in some pain it didn't look nearly as bad as the wound he gave the imposter.

Suddenly, Rita got all their attentions. "Don't you think, oh, I don't know, go after that masked freak!" The mage was close by the door, ready to make chase with Repede by her side who made an affirmative bark.

But Flynn somehow managed to keep her form going off. "He won't be going far, not with the wound I gave him. Besides, Sodia and our reinforcements should be at the entrances ready to apprehend him."

Right after he said that, the ceiling began to shake and was followed by a loud _boom_.

"That doesn't sound good," Yuri said before he joined Rita who was already heading toward the exit.

It didn't take long as they ran all the way. Yuri and Rita exited the building at the same time to see about ten knights on the ground with scorched marks all around. None of the knights looked seriously hurt. But more importantly, there was still no sign of the imposter.

"What happened here?" Flynn asked once he and the others caught up with them.

Sodia had been tending to another knight. But she quickly approached the commandant with a look that told them that they failed to do what had been ordered of her. "My apologies," she said. "We saw the culprit exit the building and we surrounded him. But we seriously underestimated him."

_I'll say,_ Yuri thought as he examined the scorched marks. There was even a small trail of blood leading into the alley. While it wouldn't surprise him if the Fox had another arte to do this damage it seemed unlikely in his condition. "So a dozen knights couldn't handle a culprit with one arm?" Yuri just blurted out. He was pissed off that the guy got away; especially because of the knights incompetence.

Sodia glared at Yuri. But her attention was brought back to Flynn. "We were never informed that the imposter could use high level magic. It was like the culprit was using a bodi blastia."

/~/~/

**Z-Skit: **

**Karol**: Say Estelle, notice anything different about me.

**Estelle**: Umm...

**Rita**: Let me guess, you finally hit puberty?

**Karol**: N-no! Besides I've already went through that.

**Rita**: Oh yeah, you voice is already cracking.

**Karol**: Sh-shut up Rita!

**Estelle**: I'm sorry Karol but you look the same to me.

**Karol**: Oh come on guys! Can't you tell that I'm taller than the last time you saw me?

**Rita**: Is that so? How much taller are you?

**Karol**: One forth if an inch!

**Rita**:...Good grief...

**Estelle**: I'm not sure what to say to that...


	4. Chapter 3: The Holy Knights

Here's the next chapter. I encourage any and all criticism because I'm not going to get any better without it.  
>Read, review, enjoy.<p>

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 3: The Holy Knights<span>

"This night just keeps getting better," Yuri muttered as he leaned against a pillar in the throne room of the castle.

It was well past midnight, maybe two of three, and they had to tell what had happen at the lab to Ioder and even the head of the council, Lilith Nightheart. Thankfully, Dr. Vossler wasn't there, or at the very least wasn't there yet. Yuri supposed the good Doctor couldn't be disturbed at this hour even though it concerned his precious labs.

Ioder and Nightheart didn't look like they had even had the chance to fall asleep like the rest of them. Obviously news of the Ringing Fox's appearance in the city warranted their full attention.

"Could you have a little bit of decency when in front of His Highness?" Flynn snapped after Yuri interrupted his report again. Flynn was the only one who was telling about the accounts of their fight with the Fox. The only reason Yuri and the others were there was so Karol could ask if they could chase after the Ringing Fox with the knights. Yuri would have preferred just to do it on their own but Raven said it would be better and a lot less of a hassle if they could work with the knights.

"There shall be no offence taken at this hour," Nightheart chimed in. This was the first time Yuri had seen the new head of the council. She certainly looked like a krityan with her pointed ears but she had no anntenm. She also didn't dress like other krityan. Instead she wore the bulky greed council robes that hid whatever figure she had but her shoulders were exposed and her sleeves covered her hands. Her black hair was in in a bun and Yuri could see much intelligence behind her dark piercing eyes. It was hard to tell how old she was since she appeared to look younger than Raven, but yet her expression told him she had been around longer than that. At the very least she seemed to carry her age well.

Flynn turned his attention back to Ioder and Nightheart. "As I was saying, the culprit managed to escape the lab but Captain Sodia had an ambush waiting for him. But according to them the culprit used some high level magic. It's concerning considering nobody has accomplished such feat since the defeat of the Adephagos."

_Except Estelle, _Yuri thought as he glanced at the princess standing next to him.

"What kind of magic was it? Don't tell me those knights under you command couldn't even tell the difference between spells," a woman's voice, which Yuri didn't recognize, echoed down the hall.

They all turned their attention to the hall but the first thing they saw were two wolves entering the throne room. Karol let out a startled scream as everyone else assumed attack position. Flynn drew his sword to protect Ioder and the council lady. Both of the monsters started growing at all the aggression.

But soon a boy who was younger than Karol appeared behind them. He looked to be a noble's kid the way he was dressed in green shorts and a white buttoned shirt with a small green tie. His brown hair was also combed neatly into place. But his expression looked no different than warrior in the midst of a battle. "Touch them and I will kill you," he threatened.

Yuri saw Flynn sheath his sword and gave a tired sigh. "Damn it, James," Flynn started to scold. "How many times do I have to tell you not to bring in your pet monsters into the city?" It vaguely reminded Yuri of all the other times Flynn scolded him for not following the laws.

Out of nowhere, the boy's face changed to suit his age. He even stuck his tongue out at Flynn. "They're not pets. They're my family." The boy even hugged the neck of one of the wolves while the other one started licking the boy's face. The wolves acted like domestic dogs and the boy was nuzzling them as so.

Flynn may think these monsters were safe enough to be around but Yuri wasn't going to let his guard down. He and Karol both kept their weapons drawn. Repede also wasn't going to take his eye off them.

A woman that was probably around the same age as Yuri entered the room behind James with the same voice that called out earlier. "Surely you're not doubting James' abilities?" She had fiery red hair that was in a ponytail but there were a lot of loose strains. She had on hunting greaves and wrappings to cover her somewhat flat chest. The woman also wore leather shoulder pads with long fingerless gloves. Whatever skin was exposed was covered in scars. The most notable one being on her side that ran up to her armpit from her hip. Wrapped around her small waist was a chain with two sickles at her thighs. These two were definitely…interesting individuals.

"Of course not, but seeing monsters in the city can cause the citizens to panic," Flynn tried to reason. "And also my men were startled that the Fox could use magic. They think it was either fire or light magic based on the scorched marks," Flynn began to defend.

The woman merely shrugged which seemed to annoy Flynn further. Yuri would have to get the details later about that woman.

James just rolled his eyes. "All these stupid rules are annoying. It's no fun being a knight."

Yuri glanced at the others and that Karol and Rita were just as shocked at hearing what James said. It wasn't just him that heard it.

"Have your monsters caught the Ringing Fox's scent?" the council lady asked the monster boy.

"Aye, some of my brothers and sisters are hunting him down as we speak," James said.

"Yeah, all that blood from that guy helped a lot," the woman commented with a wide smile. "It took the monsters one sniff before they started their hunt. I suppose you did one thing right _commandant._"

_Just who the hell are these guys? _Yuri wondered. If they were taking orders from the head of the council, then did that mean they were members of the Holy Knights? Maybe the woman, but the kid?

Nightheart nodded. "I thank the both of you for your work this late but I need you two to escort Dr. Vossler to Aurnion. He left several hours ago to check on the lab so you two need to make haste."

The two newcomers didn't like their orders. "Seriously ? We do all the tracking and yet we don't even get to participate in hunting down the elusive Ringing Fox? So not far lady." The woman complained.

James looked even more upset. He even pointed a finger at Flynn. "I'm not leaving my brothers and sisters with the knights. Do you even know what happened last time?"

"As long as they don't hurt anyone we won't have to hurt them," Flynn told him. "But last time you let one of your pets loose it was a giant scorpion we had to kill because it was harming people."

The menacing looked returned to James' face as he stared at Flynn. Even the wolves stared growling at him. Flynn had his hand at the ready for his sword.

"That's enough," Nightheart ordered and the two newcomers obeyed. "You have your orders. Now go."

The newcomers were still upset but they weren't going to argue with the council woman. James left stomping like child being sent to his room with his two wolves following close behind. The woman stopped by Yuri and looked to be sizing him up. "So you're the infamous Yuri Lowell," she started by saying. "I have to say you're much cuter than the wanted poster of the Ringing Fox. It's hard to believe that anyone would mistake you for him."

Yuri was too tired to come up with a clever comeback. "At least someone realized that," he muttered.

The woman gave him a sly smile but Yuri could see that there were some ulterior motives behind it.

But soon James called back to her. "Come on Xiu."

She gave Yuri a wink before going off to join the boy and his monsters.

"Don't tell me that Xiu the Huntress is a member of the Holy Knights?" Raven asked once these two disappeared down the hall.

"She is, and so is James, the child you just saw," Flynn answered him.

"Seriously?" Yuri injected. "The Empire is letting a kid fight monsters by himself." He didn't care if the council woman threw him out for his comment. James could only be about ten and there was no way someone that young should join the knights. Karol was probably about the same age when he first joined a guild but guilds did their own thing. There were also different types of guilds. Knights, in theory, had to follow orders and protect people.

"I don't like that James is a member either," Nightheart surprised him by saying. "But James' ability to communicate with monsters has been incredibility valuable to us."

It still sounded like the Empire was just extorting a young boy.

"Well, since the culprit's trail has been found I suspect you'll be leading the search commandant?" Ioder asked, quickly bringing them back to the original reason they were here.

"Of course, I'll assemble some men and be ready to leave in a few hours," Flynn told him.

Yuri wasn't going to wait for Flynn to bring them up which could have taken longer. He left the corner he and his group were in to stand next to Flynn. "Brave Vesperia would also like to go after the Ringing Fox." He did receive a warning look from Flynn but the knight didn't say anything. Maybe he was starting to realize that it was useless trying to tell Yuri what to do. Wouldn't that be a nice change of things?

"Given the circumstance, I can't help but agree," Ioder admitted. "Since its unknown if Ringing Fox is working for anyone, it will look good if both the Empire and the Union were working together on this. So I ask if Brave Vesperia would work with the knights on this job. You'll be paid of course."

Yuri still didn't like the idea, especially since Flynn would be with them. That meant they would have to follow the law or listen to Flynn nagging. Oh well, it may make it easier for what he was about to ask next. "Fine, you can talk to Karol about the pay. But I also want Estelle to come with us."

He heard a surprised sound from both Flynn and Estelle. Yuri looked back at Estelle and shot her a small grin. The princess couldn't help but smile back.

Ioder and the council woman exchanged glances. Nightheart nodded and so Ioder said, "Very well. Estellise, would you care to act as my proxy?"

Estelle was still startled that she stumbled on her words. "O-of course. Thank you very much." She gave a slight bow toward Ioder.

"Well, now that that's taken care of," Yuri started to say, as he turned around to leave he grabbed Estelle's shoulder to have her follow him, "we'll be catching some sleep. Meet you by the gates in a couple of hours?" He asked Flynn.

"Yeah," the commandant answered.

Yuri only nodded and left the throne room with Estelle and the others in tow.

The group walked in silence until they were nearing the exit to the castle. Once there, Karol asked, "Why did you do that for Yuri?"

"We all need a little bit of rest if we want to catch this guy, I was just hurrying it along," Yuri answered.

Karol let out a sigh of relief. "And here I thought you were going to have us chase after him ourselves." The others seemed to have had a similar thought.

"It did occur to me, but Ioder is right. People will probably calm down a little if the knights and the guilds work together." Brave Vasperia wasn't one of the Five Master Guilds but they had established quite a name for themselves. At the very least people know who they are.

"Since that's taken care of, I want to know how the old man knows that woman we just met," Rita said.

Raven seemed a little startled by the mages' inquires. "Who? Xiu? Everyone in Dahngrest knows about her. She's been in about every guild in the Union. She beats Karol's record easily."

"Oh right," Karol chimed in, "I remember hearing from Tison and Nan that she was once in the Hunting Blades before I ever joined. They said she almost beat Client in a duel."

"So why isn't she still with the Hunting Blades?" Yuri asked. He wanted to know more about the members of Holy Knight in case they ever ran into them again. If Xiu was about the same level of strength as Client then Yuri could believe she could handle monster killings.

"Because she's freaking insane," Raven declared. "If you got in her way on a job you're as good as dead. There was no difference in friend and enemy. After being kicked out of so many guilds, people stopped hiring her. Rumors had been floating that she finally lost it and left to live out in the wild to hunt monsters."

_That's just what the knights' need, another crazy person with bloodlust, _Yuri though bitterly. "Are the rest of the Holy Knights like that?"

"I haven't meet all of them but I don't think any of them have such an extreme back story," Estelle started and began telling them the rest of the members. "There's of course James. Some have even gone to call him James the Wild Child because of his unique ability to tame monsters. There's another krityan named Zalmon but I don't know too much about him other than that some of the knights call him Shade Walker."

No one had any additional information on the kid or the krityan. Although, it was surprising to hear that there was another krityan who fought.

Estelle went on, "Zane Holwell was once a researcher in Aspio-"

Rita let out a mocking laugh. "That guy certainly wasn't a researcher. Of course that pompous ass was almost as brilliant as me. But no topic could keep his interest long enough."

"So now hunting monsters keeps his interest," Yuri commented.

Estelle continued with the last member, "I'm not sure what his real name is but everyone calls the fifth member Reaper."

"Now there's a name I haven't heard in a long time," Raven said.

"Go on and share with the rest of us," Yuri told him.

The old man just heaved a great big sigh, "I'm afraid there isn't much to tell ya. All I know is that we both fought in the war together and that was when he got the name Reaper the Immortal Warrior. The guy was frightening to watch. He just charged at the Entelexeia while other men started wetting themselves."

"Could he be like you Raven?" Karol asked as he nodded toward the old man's chest.

"If he is it had to happen before the war. He's not afraid of death. That much I'm certain."

"It's certainly a colorful bunch defending the people," Yuri muttered.

He was about to suggest that they all leave to get some sleep when suddenly he heard rumbling outside the castle. "Ah hell," Yuri muttered.

He quickly ran over to a window and looked up at the night sky. After a few seconds there came a small rain drop hit the glass.

It was followed by two more.

Suddenly it began to pour down rain, wiping away the Ringing Fox's trail.

"Damn, the Fox has lady luck on his side," Raven said once he realized what the rain meant.

"Maybe James' monsters found the culprit," Estelle suggested.

"I doubt it," Yuri said still watching the rain fall on the sleeping city.

"Even monsters would have a hard time tracking in this weather," Karol answered.

Yuri curled his hand into a fist. _This isn't over yet, we'll catch up with you eventually._

/~/~/

"Come inside already Karen, nobody's out there," Rich called out to the woman out in the downpour of rain who was under an umbrella. They weren't far from Deidon Hold but they were the only people in their travelers' lodge. Rich still stood underneath their large covered wagon. The only light source they had came from the few lanterns they had, which made it hard to make out anything in the distance.

"But I could have sworn I saw a potential customer," Karen told him.

While rainy weather always did bring in people seeking shelter it was also very early in the morning. The only reason they were even up was because they heard some wolves howling. "No one is out there. Now get inside before you get sick."

She was just about to listen to him when some nearby bushes began to rustle. It startled both of them but they soon saw the figure of a person.

_Is that the sword guy who took care of all the giganto monsters? _Rich wondered thinking the dark figure and long hair looked a lot like the guy they ran into a lot two years ago. But this person wasn't Yuri. He couldn't explain it but something told him that it wasn't who he thought he was. The fox mask also didn't help much.

"Welcome to the King of Adventures," Karen started to say to try and get their visitor to stay. "We have some bedrolls left if you would like a place to-"

She was cut short when the mask man collapsed in the mud.

Karen hurried over to him with her umbrella and Rich wasn't far behind her. Rich helped the mask man sit up while Karen kept the rain off him. The masked man was still conscious since he let out a painful moan when Rich grabbed his left shoulder.

"Rich, help him into the wagon," Karen told him as he did what she said. Though their visitor was very shady he wasn't about to let someone die in front of them.

Rich supported the man on his good side and helped him walk to the wagon and Karen kept them as dry as they could be at this point. The man was lighter than Rich expected. He probably could have carried his full weight, but he didn't so not to cause any more harm to the man.

They got their visitor out of the rain and sitting down. In the lamp light Rich was able to tell how serious the man's wound really was. It looked like if the man let go of his shoulder than his arm was going to fall off. A few drops of blood, mixed in with the water on his clothes, fell on their wagon floor from the man.

"I'm not a doctor but I can try and stich the wound up," Karen said as she quickly rushed to the corner to retrieve their supplies.

The masked man nodded and weakly started to unbutton his shirt. Rich was going to help him but the man swatted his hands away. So Rich just stood back and watched as Karen stuck her sewing needle in the lamp's flame.

The man managed to pull his shirt down enough to expose his injured shoulder. It probably would have caused more pain to take the shirt off completely. It was still hard to judge the wound since it was covered in blood. His whole left side was red. The man was scrawny and he even had bandages cover his whole torso. For a moment, Rich thought the light was playing tricks with him because he could have sworn the skin around the bandages looked green.

"So what's your name?" Karen asked, as she gently began to wipe the blood away so she could asses just how bad the wound really was.

"Trust me, it's better if you don't know," the man answered. He still kept his mask on. He even had his right hand holding it in place like he was afraid they would try to steal it from him, while his left hand lay lifelessly next to Karen.

Karen had cleaned most of the blood away and Rich could now see that the man's wound could have only come from a sword or an ax. "How did you end up with that?" Rich asked. He had a bad feeling that this wasn't just some random traveler.

"Rich!" Karen scolded as she poured alcohol over the wound to sterilize it.

The masked man didn't answer him or even flinch. He probably couldn't feel his arm any more. If that was the case then a doctor would probably have to cut it off. Even if this guy was some bandit, he wouldn't be able to do much in his state, so Rich relaxed a bit.

Realizing what Rich had, Karen said, "I can keep you from bleeding out but you should see a doctor. We're not far from Deidon Hold. We can take you-"

"Just stop the bleeding. I have a friend who can help me more," the man told her.

Karen just looked at Rich before she stuck the needle in the man's flesh.

There was a brief moment when the three of them were silent and Rich carefully watched the masked man. Just then the man turned his head and started talking. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine," he said.

"Who are you talking to?" Rich asked the man. Karen even paused at her work.

The man didn't answer them. Instead he said, "You worry about finding the next target. We're on a time crunch."

Rich slowly walked over to the flaps and looked into the rain. There wasn't a soul out there. He looked back over at Karen who was still staring nervously at their visitor.

"We have to keep you know who's promise…" the man paused as if he was listening to his invisible and silent friend. "Yeah, I'd hate to see him angry too."

/~/~/

**Z-Skit**

**Raven**: So Rita darlin', you sounded awfully jealous when you asked how I knew Xiu.

**Rita**: Sounds like you need your hearing checked.

**Raven**: Come now Rita, don't be coy. It's perfectly natural for a girl you age to feel attracted to an older man like myself.

**Rita** used karate chopped: Ha!

**Raven**: Ouch! What was that for?

**Rita**: Don't be so full of yourself. I just needed more information for my database to prove what a sleazy old man you are.

**Raven**: Way to wound an old man with that sharp tongue of yours. Kids these days, I tell ya.


	5. Chapter 4: To Hunt a Fox

So I've learned something very interesting in my expensive education that I'm a little sad I didn't realize myself. All writers are _sadists_! Any good story has something bad happen to the characters so I'm a sadist!

So I just want to apologize to all my personal characters for making your fictional lives a living hell out of others enjoyment. I apologize to all the characters I do not own for making your lives worse than they already are (that includes the Vesperia, Symphonia, and Fire Emblem cast, although I'm pretty sure I didn't do too many bad things to the Symphonia cast).

So the sooner you admit this the less guilty you will feel for writing disturbing things. I certainly have.

**Karol: **But she hasn't really done anything to us.

**Yuri: **Ah hell, there's no telling what she'll do to us.

**Karol **with a loud gulp**: **What do you mean by that?

**Rita: **Don't you think it's strange that we haven't seen the people from that Emblem thing?

**Karol: **Well they're taking a break right now. There's nothing wrong with that.

**Yuri: **It is if Blue did away with them. Why would she just stop writing their scripts? For we know, we could be next.

**Karol: **Blue wouldn't do something like that to us, would she?

**Raven:** Karol my boy, did you not read about what happened to those poor souls in FE? Hell, one of them got stabbed in the eye so hard that the blade when through his brain and the poor bastards still livin'.

**Estelle: **Raven! That detail hasn't been released yet!

**Raven**: Whoops. I guess ol' Raven's lips are being too loose.

**Yuri: **I told you we shouldn't have agreed to work with Blue.

**Karol: **Oh my gosh. I don't…She wouldn't…Aaaaaaaahhhhhh! *Karol runs off.

**Rita: **Well he's never going to sleep again.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 4: To Hunt a Fox <span>

Four hours of sleep wasn't enough, but Yuri was used to operating on minimal sleep. A short nap was all he needed to keep going. His youthful energy and adrenaline will help him out when he really needed it.

Thankfully the rain retreated but gray clouds remained. He and Repede stood by the gate of Zaphias as they waited for the rest of their group to join them. The city was slowly waking up. Knights were on their patrol and citizens were starting their day to make their next piece of gald.

Karol and Raven arrived shortly after Yuri did ready for a long journey, although both of them had sand still in their eyes. Karol had his king sized bag around his shoulder that was partially full of things they would probably need on the journey and the rest was probably junk. Yuri remembered thinking that the young guild master wouldn't be able to carry a bag that size when Karol bought a bag three times the size of his original. But Yuri had been proven wrong.

The old man looked like he slept in his baggy purple coat. Of course that wasn't new. Yuri just hoped the old man remembered to remove his transformer bow from inside his coat, otherwise they'd be hearing the old man complain about his back the whole way.

Rita followed shortly after and she looked worse. Before they separated this morning, Rita said she was heading back to the lab to see what kind of damage was done. Obviously she hadn't slept any. This time the mage had her giant scroll on her back and had on her orange mage robes with one long sock and a short sock.

Once she reached them she began spouting about how the mages would have to rebuild the mana collector from scratch. She kept going on and on about the mana tech and the fox freak that Yuri had to tune her out. Raven and Karol probably did the same.

Eventually Flynn and Estelle arrived and were followed by three knights, one of them being Sodia. This time Estelle had her sword and shield strapped to her belt. She was dressed similar to what she wore on their first journey, only this time her white over dress was less poofy and only reached down to her knees. Her hair was also pinned up with her bangs on either side of her face.

"We've just received word that James' monsters were able to track the Ringing Fox's scent a few miles from Deidon Hold," Flynn informed the rest of the group.

It was surprising that the fox was able to make it that far with the injury Flynn gave him. Yuri supposed he had some incredible will power or maybe it was just stubbornness after what they had witnessed in the lab. Either way, he doubted that the fox was dead.

"Are there any more mana labs?" Karol asked.

"There aren't any more that are operational in IIyccia," Rita told them. "There's a small one in Tolbyccia and a larger one in Aurnion. To think there used to be a total of five labs that were fully functioning."

"Either way, he's heading toward a port town," Yuri said. "We ready to go?" If Yuri had to wait any longer he was going to leave everyone behind.

Flynn nodded. "Let's not waste any more time. We should reach Deidon Hold by noon. My hope is that the knights stationed there will find and capture him so we don't have to worry about trying to catch up."

"But that doesn't seem likely," Yuri commented. The Ringing Fox seems to have proven time and again that he can avoid the knights and even beat them if need be.

Flynn didn't agree or disagree. The commandant ordered the knights to open the gates and he then lead them out of the city.

Estelle stopped by Yuri and had a guilty smile on her face. For some reason Repede followed after Flynn and the others instead of staying with Yuri. "As bad as it sounds, I'm glad we'll all be traveling again," she admitted when the others were out of ear shot.

Yuri let out an amused sound. "I suppose that's one good thing that's come from all of this." He held his hand up and the princess high-fived like they always did after a fight with the monsters.

"To the road ahead Yuri," she said with a big grin.

/~/~/

It was in the middle of the afternoon by the time Yuri and the other's reached Deidon Hold. The trip wasn't quite as lively as all the other times they traveled. Yuri secretly blamed the knights Flynn brought along. Karol and Estelle had tried to start conversations with the knights but they were just as unsociable and stiff as Flynn once was.

Deidon Hold hadn't changed much over the years since it never had to rely on a barrier or much blastia to power things. Most people only passed through the area and had no desire to stay longer then they needed. There was at least one place that hadn't been affected by the spirit conversion.

They first approached two knights who were busy chatting with one another. But once the commandant approached them, they quickly dropped their conversation and stood at attention. Flynn held up the wanted poster to them and asked, "Have any of you seen this man come by here?"

The knights took turns examining the poster but in the end they just shook their helmet heads. "Sorry, Commandant Scifo, but we haven't seen him. All the knights are on high alert for this guy so if anyone spotted him we would have apprehended the criminal." One of them seemed to glance at Yuri through his helmet. But the knight seemed to dismiss whatever he was thinking since Yuri was part of Flynn's group.

Flynn let out a sigh of defeat. "Very well," he said, "resume your positions. "

The knights saluted and went on with patrol, or at least pretended to.

"You want us to split up and ask the other people around the Hold, commandant?" Yuri asked, with a little bit of a mocking tone at the end.

Flynn surprised all of them by saying, "No. We'll keep going until we reach Halure."

"So the word of a couple of knights is enough. For all we know, those two could have spent all their time in the barracks getting drunk off their asses while the Fox snuck past him," Yuri argued. Everyone in the group seemed to back away from the two of them knowing full well how easily they could get into a fight.

They may have lost the trail of the imposter but Repede would have caught his scent if he was nearby. That meant the imposter had to have come through here. Probably while it was still raining since Repede still wasn't picking up on anything. The fox could have easily walked through the gate. Yuri doubted he could climb the wall even without his injury.

"Ringing Fox had a head start," Flynn started to explain calmly, "it's best if we keep moving. With his injuries he will be moving slower. We may be able to catch up and, better yet, set a trap."

"Couldn't we do that here since the masked freak hasn't passed through yet?" Rita asked sounding just as irritated as Yuri was. Maybe she would be the one to start a fight with Flynn.

"There is another way through here," Flynn said.

"You're not referring to the Quoi Woods, are you?" Estelle asked.

"That path is crawling with monsters! There's no way he could survive in his state," Karol stated. There weren't too many dangerous monsters on the main path except for the occasional eggbear. But if the Fox didn't kill the monsters quickly then he would easily be overrun with them and that was where the danger was.

"I can believe that the Fox could make it out if there. He's certainly got enough determination," Yuri commented. Yuri hated it when Flynn was right. Most likely, the imposter was traveling through the woods so he could avoid any and all knights. If they left now they would probably reach Halure at the same time.

Yuri and Repede started walking toward to the gate when Flynn stopped him. "Where are you going?" The commandant asked his friend.

"Like you said, we need to catch up with the guy. He's not going to be around here," Yuri told him and kept on walking.

"I'll tell the knights to check the Quoi Woods," Flynn announced before they all left.

/~/~/

It was late in the afternoon when they reached Halure. It took them longer to reach the city due to more monsters being on the road. Thankfully they were just the average monsters they commonly saw, so they were easy to take care of.

Yuri was more surprised that Halure didn't seem to be having any major problems with monsters. They didn't have walls or natural barriers like other cities did so before they had to rely on the barrier in the tree. There were some materials by the entrance that very well could have been for building a wooden wall but was soon abandoned when monsters weren't trying to attack within the city.

Estelle told them that an occasional wolf wondered into the city in search for food but the knights quickly scared it off. She also said she was glad when the mayor decided to abandon the wall project since it would have ruined Halure's natural beauty.

It was a little concerning since Halure used to have a big monster problem when the blastia were still around. When the barrier would fail monsters would storm in. But now all they had to protect themselves were swords. Yuri didn't worry about this too much. He'd let a mage or a monster expert worry about it.

Flynn again asked the knights of the city if they had seen the Ringing Fox but they had the same answers as the ones in Deidon Hold. This time, however, the commandant ordered the knights to set up a perimeter and be on the lookout for the culprit. If they didn't hear anything come morning then Flynn would have the knights go back to Deidon Hold and the Quoi Woods and do a more thorough search while the rest of them would go on.

Either way, Yuri and the others were going to catch up on some much needed sleep. And rather than pay for rooms at an inn, Estelle offered to let them sleep at her place.

This was the first time Yuri had seen Estelle's new home and to be honest it wasn't anything to brag about. It was a nice one bedroom cottage up on the hill with a wonderful view of the Halure's Tree out her kitchen window. But there was nothing about it that made it stand out from the other houses. Estelle had yet to personalize it or make it her own. That could be because she was constantly going between here and the capital and so she had no time.

Yuri headed over to the kitchen since it was his turn to cook (and also to prevent Flynn from cooking). The kitchen was part of the main living area and Estelle noticed where he was going. "It's my home, I should be the one fixing the meal," she said.

"Yeah, well we're staying at your home so we should be doing it. But if you feel so strongly about then you can lend me a hand," Yuri said with a shrug and the princess followed after him.

There were plenty of dirty dishes in the sink. The kitchen had differently been used. "I see that you've been practicing your cooking," Yuri commented as he began to searching for something to fix everyone. He found rice so maybe they could fix curry. But there was no meat in the icebox when he checked.

"I'd like to think I'm getting better but I'm sure that it's nothing like everyone else's' cooking," Estelle said. "Maybe we should fixed vichyssoise, that's simple."

"I don't see any potatoes," Yuri told her as he looked through her cabinets. It seemed like Estelle hadn't gone shopping in a while.

Just then, they heard Rita yelling at Karol and the old man for something they did. Flynn and the other knights seemed to be trying to calm the mage down but whatever Karol and the old man did must have been bad. Thankfully, Rita didn't have her magic and her giant scroll was out of arm's length. In fact, Sodia very quickly grabbed the scroll and moved to the other side of the room.

"How's about we go get some ingredients," Yuri suggested, partly to avoid the noisy bunch and also because it seemed like Estelle didn't have enough to make an edible meal.

Estelle nodded and the two of them walked out the door, with Repede in tow, without anyone noticing their absences.

/~/~/

Estelle couldn't decide on which recipe they should make so they ended buying most of the ingredients at the market and made a whole feast for everyone. They all had something they liked and so they had no room to complain, although Rita looked like she was still pissed about something. That little bit of down time was just what everyone needed. The room was loud with chatter and people yelling at each other across the room.

Even the two knights joined in their banter. They were like completely different people then the ones that were on the road. They seemed like decent enough people, but Yuri still didn't bother to learn their names.

It was like old times, expect Judith wasn't with them. Yuri thought about their krityan friend. She should be finishing up her job by now and making her way back to Dahngrest with Ba'ul. It sure would have been a lot quicker catching the Ringing Fox with Ba'ul around. They really took him for granted on their journey over two years ago.

Shortly after their bellies had been stuffed, they all agreed that it would be best to try and catch up on much needed sleep. The girls went into Estelle's room while the rest of them found a place to crash in the main room.

Karol started sawing logs the moment his head hit the couch. Repede curled up beside the couch. The old man found him a place in front of the fire place. Flynn and the other knights where by the door, Yuri guessed that they wanted to be the first ones notified if the knights in this area spotted the Ringing Fox. Yuri took the corner next to the fireplace. It was still warm out so there was no need for a fire. With that, the stones were cool against Yuri's back.

He managed to catch a couple of hours of sleep but he woke with it completely dark in the room. Yuri tried to close his eyes and fall back asleep but no luck. It also didn't help that Karol kept talking in his sleep. There were a couple of times when Yuri could have sworn he was saying "Nan."

Yuri supposed that he was just anxious and that fatigue was the only reason he actually fell asleep. It also could have been that the knights in Halure didn't seem too dependable when he and Estelle went around the town shopping for food. They were just standing around talking to one another. They weren't looking out for monsters and they didn't seem to take Flynn's order serious about the Ringing Fox coming this way. Just because monsters weren't a threat now doesn't mean there won't be in the future. Innocent people were going to get hurt because of that.

"Can't sleep either, huh, boss?" Came Raven's voice in a whisper.

Yuri should have known the old man was awake, but it still startled him. But the swordsman just heaved a great big sigh. "I'd better not hear you complain when we're on the road, old man," Yuri replied low enough so he wouldn't wake the others.

"I'll do what I gotta do, I always have. You're just itching to get your hands on the fox guy, aren't you?" Raven asked. Through the darkness, Yuri saw Raven's form sit up.

"Do you really have to ask?" Yuri said remember how some of the knights in Halure thought he was the wanted criminal. "But what about you? I doubt you're losing sleep because someone is impersonating me."

"Kind of," Raven admitted. "It's just that none of this makes much sense. When I first saw the wanted poster I thought it was just coincidence that the two of you look so much alike. But you saw that guy. He went out of his way to look like you. Why you? He could have easily remained anonymous."

They were good questions. Ones that Yuri didn't think of through all his frustration. "Maybe he just wanted to use my reputation against me. The knights were spending their time looking for me instead of him," Yuri suggested.

Raven was silent for a moment. "If that was his intention then he can't be working for anyone."

The group came up with many theories as to who the Fox was working for on the way here. Like one of the council members of the Empire. Or one of the guilds leading with the development of magi tech could have hired someone. "What makes you say that?" Yuri asked, curious as to what Raven was thinking.

"Think about it. If it's the guilds then why would they want someone who looks so much like you? The same could be said for the Empire. You're connected to both sides. They would blame each other like they're doing now."

"Plus both the guilds and the Empire have lost mana labs. Maybe that's what the Fox or his employer wants; a war between the Empire and the Union." After Yuri said that he began to doubt it. During their fight, Yuri didn't pick up any sinister intentions from the Fox, not like other opponents. It was more like fighting Duke, who was ten times stronger than the Fox, and that they were fighting for different ideals. "We can worry about the Fox's intention after we catch him," Yuri told the old man.

"Fair enough, but that just leaves more for the Holy Knights."

"What about them."

There came a small chuckle from the old man. "Xiu the Huntress certainly isn't doing this for anyone but herself. And Reaper? I don't know. There's just something not right about that guy. I get the weirdest vibes from him during that short time I knew him during the war."

"Know any more about him?"

"He worked closely with Alexie when he was in the Empire."

_That bastard again._ Yuri thought bitterly. If Reaper was on Alexie's side then there was a good chance that he was going to be an enemy. After the former's commandant's death, most of his remaining followers fled the Empire. Brave Vesperia ran into a couple of them on the road and his followers' tried and failed to kill the ones who stopped the former commandant. Reaper may be one of them.

Raven must have sensed the change in Yuri's attitude because he added, "I just remembered something Reaper once said in the war. Someone asked him why he was fighting in the war since it wasn't evident if Reaper was for the Empire or the Union. He said, 'I want to get stronger so I can kill the man who murdered my family.' I have a felling he meant Alexie. He never took Reaper anywhere with him and made sure to keep him at arm's length all the time. The few times I've seen him he looked like he was waiting for his chance to attack."

Before Yuri had the chance to say anything else, steps that were wearing heavy armor were running up Estelle's steps. Shortly after there came loud knocks that easily woke the whole house up. Flynn and the other knights jumped to their feet (maybe they weren't asleep either). Flynn opened the door and there stood two more knights.

"We spotted the wanted criminal about five miles from the Halure," one of them announced. "What do you want us to do commandant?"

"Send some men and try and slow him down. I'll take some people and set up an ambush at Ehmead Hill for him," Flynn answered.

The knights nodded and left while Flynn and the knights he brought were getting their armor back on.

Yuri stood up and started to wake Karol up. "Up and at 'em Karol," he said to him. Even Repede barked at him.

The young guild master was having trouble opening his eyes. He was slowly waking up but his body refused to get up. Repede wasn't going to wait any longer. The canine grabbed hold of Karol's pants leg with his teeth and pulled him off the couch with a loud thud from where his head hit the ground.

"What the hell?" Karol mumbled as he sat up and rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry Karol. The fox has been spotted so we have no time to lose," Yuri answered. He quickly gathered his sword and other gear when Repede gave an affirmative bark.

A great big yawn escaped Karol before he slung his giant bag lazily over his shoulder. "What time is it?" He asked, looking like he was going to pass out at any moment.

"Probably two or three?" Raven answered.

"Doesn't the guy we're chasing ever sleep?" Karol asked as he began to nod off again. But Repede gave another bark that woke the youth up again.

"You can ask him yourself when we catch him," Yuri said.

He hurried over to Estelle's room to wake the girls up. Yuri raised his hand up and was about to knock when the door opened and his fist came close to hitting Rita's face. Her, Sodia, and Estelle all stood there with their gear on and looked ready to move, although Estelle looked like she was still asleep. One of the other knights was still struggling to get their armor on through weariness.

The mage merely glared at Yuri before he put his hand down. Rita just folded her arms across her chest. "Those knights found the fox freak, right?" She asked.

"They did," Yuri answered.

"Then what are we waiting for, let's get him," Rita said and grabbed a still sleeping Estelle by the arm to drag her behind her.

Yuri wasn't sure who the Ringing Fox should be more worried about, him or Rita.

/~/~/

**Skit: Sleep Deprived**

**Rita: **It's about to time we found that guy. I was going crazy waiting.

**Yuri: **Rita, did you even go to sleep?

**Rita:** No, someone had to be ready to move at a moment's notice and to make sure Estelle woke up. I stayed just worked on some knew formulas for my scroll.

**Raven: **But you didn't go to sleep when we were still in Zaphias, did you?

**Rita: **Of course not, I needed to check on the lab after what that freak did to it.

**Karol: **But aren't you tired?

**Rita: **Please, I'm a researcher. I can go a couple of days without sleep if I need to.

**Karol **says with a yawn**: **But you need to get your beauty sleep.

**Rita **with narrow eyes: What the hell did you just say!

Rita chops at Karol who starts running away. **Karol**:No, no. I-I didn't mean it that way. Y-Yuri, Raven, help me! *Both Karol and Rita run off.

**Yuri:** Yeah, I'm not getting in the middle of that.

**Raven: **Same. A high strung Rita with no sleep is one I want nothing to do with.

**Yuri:** We'll have to make sure she sleeps tonight.

**Raven: **Definitely.


	6. Chapter 5: Ren?

Here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it. let me know if you do or even if you don't.  
>Read, review, enjoy.<p>

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 5: Ren?<span>

The sun was starting to rise when they reached the first check point at Ehmead Hill, which was where the base of the hill used to be, the place where Judith had destroyed a Hermes blastia, and also where Rita nearly got them all arrested.

Ehmead Hill was no longer a giant hill thanks to Heracles' Cannon. It, technically, no longer had a name but people still refer to it as Ehmead Hill. There was one guild that was apparently working tirelessly to restore the forest to what it once was after they were destroyed. New trees were growing all along the road and it would be years before they were as tall or strong as the ones that had been there before. The land was slowly healing after that disaster.

There was now a large fence that was taller than all of them with a small open gate to let people come in and out one at a time. There were also some knights at the gate checking all the merchants and travelers. A line of about twenty people were waiting to get through. The knights were currently doing a thorough search of a large cart that belonged to a couple of merchants who were holding up the line.

"We're seriously not going to wait in this line, are we?" Karol the moment he saw all the people.

"Thankfully being the commandant has its perks," Flynn told them as he walked up the guards.

The rest of the group stood back as Flynn approached the knights who quickly stood at attention. Since on both side of Ehmead Hill were step and jagged cliffs that only an experienced mountain climber could travel through, the Fox had to be coming through the pass. Their plan was to wait in the middle and get the jump on him. They were all armed so they had a better chance in making sure Fox didn't escape this time.

As Flynn seemed to be telling the guards their plans to catch the Ringing Fox, the rest of them were discussing what the Fox's objective must be.

"Since there are only two mana labs left which one do you think he's heading to?" Raven asked the young mage.

"I would imagine that jerk is heading to the bigger one in Aurnion," Rita hypothesized. "From what I've heard, the one left in Tolbyccia is just getting on its feet. They probably don't even have a mana collector. So there really wouldn't be anything worth destroying there."

"We'll catch the criminal this time so there isn't a reason to wonder what his next move will be," one of the knights in the group said sounding very sure of himself.

"Excuse me, but where were you when the Fox got into Zaphias?" Yuri just blurted out.

The knight who had been leaning against an older tree stood straight up and Yuri could feel his glaring eyes through his helmet. "What did you say guild member?"

The rest of the group seemed to be trying to stop Yuri from doing anything stupid by shooting him warning looks. He definitely wasn't going to _start_ anything, not when they were close to catching the Fox, but he also wasn't going to back down. "I'm just saying there is a good reason why the guy wears a fox mask. He's elusive. Then again he's been sneaking around you guys. It's not too hard from my experience."

The knight had his hand on his sword. "Why you little-"

But Sodia put her hand in front of the knight who relaxed slightly at his superior's command. "That's enough Yuri Lowell," Sodia said to Yuri. "We want to catch this criminal too. But you need to remember that you're only here because you are a friend of the commandant."

"I'm sorry, I thought we were here to make it look like the Empire and the Union got along," Yuri snapped. There was no way he could keep up the civil act any longer. This was bound to happen sooner or later.

"You all are definitely not showing cooperation now," Estelle urged them to realize that people were now staring at them.

Sodia seemed willing to back down but not the two knights and Yuri. "It would have looked a lot better if we were working with one of the Five Master Guilds, like The White Sentinels or the others."

The White Sentinels were the guild that replaced the Blood Alliance in the Five Master Guilds. They were a group that did almost everything, from retrieving items to exterminating monsters. There were even some rumors that they were willing to assassinate someone for the right price. They were a shady bunch, Yuri could tell that much after running into one for a brief moment. There were really only three members but there were dozens of people working under their name.

"Yeah, that'll definitely help your reputation," Yuri muttered under his breath.

But the knights heard him. "Like you're one to talk." Yuri was sure most, if not all, knights knew about all the crimes he committed. There had been one time Flynn had joked to Yuri once that new recruits had to study his crime sheet.

Before Yuri had a chance to rebuke, Repede started growling at one of the trees that managed to survive the blast two years ago. There was now a fine line between the new trees and the old ones. Yuri's attention completely shifted over to his canine companion. "What is it Repede?"

"Hey, don't ignore us," the other knight said.

"Will you guys shut it, the pooch has found something," Raven told them, having the same idea as Yuri was as to what Repede was picking up on.

Repede let out a couple of barks and continued to growl. Everyone's attention was on the tree now. Repede had to smell the Fox. To think, that they almost missed him because of something as trivial as this. Yuri had to mentally kick himself for that.

Yuri started to approach the tree when the leaves began to rustle and a shadow jumped to the next one so quick that Yuri almost missed it. It leapt to the next one and another until it was right by the check point. In fact, there was a branch that hung just above Flynn and the guards.

"Flynn!" Yuri shouted over everyone.

Yuri didn't have enough time to shout the rest, but Flynn responded by turning around and drawing his sword at the same time. The two guards were one step slower than the commandant. But all three of them were still too slow because the shadow came out of the leaves with the form of the Ringing Fox.

The Fox's feet landed on one of the guards face and used him for his landing. The guard fell backwards from the impact and the Fox crouched down into a rolling position. After the Fox rolled to the ground, he got back to his feet and broke out into a run in one fluid motion. Most shocking was the fact that the Fox looked to be in top shape.

Yuri and the other quickly reached Flynn after pushing some startled people aside. They passed the guard that the Fox used for a landing who was still on the ground moaning while holding his face.

"That's some injury you gave that guy?" Yuri said to Flynn as they ran to catch the Fox. He referred to the Fox's arm, which seemed to be in fine condition even though his clothes were still covered in blood.

"Shut up," Flynn snapped. He was clearly bewildered about what had just happened. "He shouldn't even be able to use his arm," Flynn muttered under his breath.

_This Fox has more tricks up his sleeves then we thought,_ Yuri thought. He wasn't sure what they should do to. Should they keep chasing the Fox or should Yuri stop and use Azure Edge in the hopes that it would be strong enough to stop him? Final Gale definitely would if Yuri still had his bodi blastia.

Then he looked back at the mage behind him. "Rita, think you can stop that guy's movements?" Yuri shouted back at her.

"Do you even have to ask?" She stated. Rita stopped and grabbed the page of the scroll but it stayed on her back. The mage pulled the page around her and Yuri began to hear the familiar chanting.

There came a bright light behind them that caused a giant stalagmite to shot up right in front of the Fox. But the Fox's first step was used to hop from one stone to the next. The group was so close to the culprit now.

He was almost to the top when Yuri heard Rita shout, "Oh no you don't." There was a quick chant that was followed by another flash when several stones came out of the stalagmite and struck the Fox's torso with such force that it easily could have knocked the breath out of him.

The Fox lost his footing and tumbled to the ground but managed to land on all fours like a cat. Everyone circled the Fox while he was down. Rita stayed back with her scroll still open and was ready for another spell to hurl at the Fox.

"Well this seems like déjà vu," Yuri commented as he tossed the sheath of his sword aside and pointed his weapon at the Fox. Everyone else followed his action.

"You're making a mistake," the Fox stated.

"I'm not sure how you can still use your arm," Flynn started, "but you best give up now or else the same thing will happen your other arm. You're out numbered."

"I was out numbered then and I still got away. I'll just do it again," the Fox said with that same confidence he had in the lab.

"That's enough out of you," Rita shouted. She pulled the scroll out more and then shouted, "_Poison Ivy!_"

But the Fox was quicker. He rolled to his side by the time the green thorns instantly grew from the ground. The Fox then jumped to his feet and pulled out his dagger. He gripped the weapon with both hands but kept his two index fingers up. A yellow magic circle appeared under his feet that looked a lot like one of Estelle's offensive spells. "No one is going to get in my way. _Ray_!"

A small light orb appeared above their heads and, before rays of light struck, the group dived away from its range. One of knights wasn't so lucky and he was struck in the chest. The knight wouldn't die. Not from this level of the light magic. It didn't have enough power to pierce all the way through his armor. But it was strange that he didn't have to chant for that spell.

Before they had a chance to recover, Yuri and the others saw that a swarm of monsters were leaving the thick woods a couple of meters away. Wolves and the creepy plant monsters were drawing near to them as they maneuvered through the newly planted trees at top speed. Rita's stalagmite wouldn't disappear for a few more minutes and there wasn't enough time for them to escape. They were trapped.

"Where are all these monsters coming from?" Estelle asked as she prepared for the attack. They looked low level. But there were so many of them.

"I have a few guesses," Yuri said as he was about to glance over at the Ringing Fox.

However the Fox had disappeared around the stalagmite. Yuri started to follow after the imposter but stopped when he realized that the others were staying to fight the monsters. If they left then these monsters could easily turn their attention to the group of people at the check point.

"Yuri, go after the Fox," Flynn shouted over his shoulder.

"Are you sure?" he quickly asked as the monsters were a few steps away from them. Monsters didn't have much intelligence but it wasn't hard to read that they were angry by the way their eyes were narrowed at them and the low growling sound they made.

"We can't let him escape this time," Flynn shouted just as a plant monster rammed into his shield.

"We can handle this," Karol told him before he swung his hammer at a nearby wolf. The hammer slammed into the wolf's side and sent onto one of the plant monsters.

Without another look back, Yuri climbed around the stalagmite and spotted the Fox running toward the next check point. At the elevated position, Yuri planted his feet and took aim as he gathered his mana in his sword. He shouted, "_Azure Edge_!"

A swarm of blue energy was released from his sword and shot toward the Fox. The blast was only half the size of what it used to be, but it should be enough to make the imposter flinch long enough. Yuri quickly took off running before his arte reached his target.

The Fox didn't have enough time to react. The arte struck him square in the back and caused him to fall face first. Yuri saw his mask fall but he still didn't see the imposters face. The Fox lunged for his mask and quickly put it back on his face before Yuri could reach him. If he had discarded the item then he might have gotten away.

By the time the Fox rolled over with one hand still on his mask and the other pushing himself up, Yuri had his sword pointing at his neck. "You must really be subconscious about your face if you're that concerned with hiding your face," Yuri told him.

"Maybe you should get yourself a mask," the fox replied in the same calm voice. He pushed his body up more, which made Yuri's sword cut into the ribbon that held the bell around his neck and it even drew a little blood. "If you want to stop me then you better kill me now."

"Don't tempt me," Yuri told him as he narrowed his eyes at the imposter. "I'm not afraid to dirty my hands."

"Yes you are. Otherwise you'd have killed me already." The fox suddenly twisted his torso and lifted his leg up to knock Yuri's sword hand away. The fox then summersaulted backwards and he was back on his feet. There was a little more blood trickling down his neck but the Fox didn't give any attention to it. A dagger was pulled out of the Fox's boot and it would seem the Fox was willing to fight.

Yuri accepted the fight and lunged toward the Fox. He slashed at his opponent but the Fox managed to block each one with his dagger. However, it didn't take Yuri long to wear down the Fox. His moves became sluggish and he was nearly avoiding Yuri's attacks. The Fox also didn't make any attempts at offense.

Just as Yuri heard the stalagmite behind them crumpling, Yuri managed to knock the Fox's weapon out of his hand. With his left hand, Yuri grabbed the Fox's caller and dropped his sword. "Now let's see what you look like underneath that mask," Yuri said as he felt the mana in his fist build up. Then he punched the Fox's mask between the eyes that made the mask shatter. He didn't want to give the imposter another chance to hide his face again.

The pieces cut through Yuri's knuckles as they flew off to reveal the imposter's face. The Fox had a strain of bangs that rested against his nose but it was now mixed with some blood from where Yuri had punched the mask in. There was a thin scar on the Fox's right check and above heavy bags his right eye was green while the other was yellow.

There was something about the Fox's face that caused Yuri to pause for a split second. It was enough time for the Fox to push his hand away and used the same arte that turned his hand blue to punch Yuri in the jaw and the next thing he knew was that he was on the ground a few feet away.

He wasn't sure what had happened until he saw Estelle run up to him and cast a healing spell on him. In his mouth, he could taste iron. He spit out some blood along with a tooth. Yuri didn't feel any pain for long thanks to Estelle's healing.

The Fox had retrieved his dagger and he was still holding his ground. There was a little more blood running down on either side of his nose. Yuri quickly grabbed his tooth and put it back in his mouth while Estelle was still healing him.

With the stalagmite gone, Yuri saw that everyone else had taken care of the swarm of monsters in record time. Their battlefield was littered with the torn bodies of the monsters.

"So that's what you look like," Yuri said as he stood up when the healing spell was done. He still wasn't sure what it was about the guy's face. I was almost like he had seen him before. "I gotta say you made a good choice in wearing a mask."

The Fox didn't say anything. He just stared them down like he did in the lab; he even looked like he was going to fight them to the death.

Suddenly, Flynn stepped in front of the entire group. But he had sheathed his sword. "Ren?" Flynn said sounding unsure. "Is that really you?"

The Fox's eyes were wide after what Flynn said. The group looked between the two. Before the Fox had a chance to answer Flynn, he suddenly lowered his dagger but he looked to his side. "Are you serious," the fox muttered before there was a slight pause. "I know, I know. It's getting worse. I'll be there soon."

The rest of them tensed up at what they were seeing and hearing. "Care to let us know who you are talking to?" Yuri asked. He was a starting to worry they were dealing with someone who wasn't right in the head. Through his experience being crazy and strong wasn't a good combination.

To his amazement, the Fox was startled by Yuri's voice. He looked back at the group with an expression that looked like he had forgotten he had been fighting. But he shook his head and his fierce expression quickly returned. "I don't have the time for you people," he said. Then he threw something on the ground and he was soon engulfed in smoke.

Yuri and Flynn rushed toward the smoke, but as it began to disappear there was no sign of the Fox anywhere. Even Repede was whimpering due to the smell the smoke caused.

The fox had escaped again.

"Damn it, he got away," Rita yelled. She even cast a small fire spell up in the air out of frustration.

But Yuri had a bigger question. "Flynn, do you actually know that guy?"

This caught Rita's attention. She ran up to the commandant. "That's right. Tell me who that guy is." The mage didn't look like she was far from casting a spell on Flynn.

Flynn raised both of his hands in defense. "I guess you can say something like that." All their attention was on the commandant and he suddenly didn't look to comfortable. "I'm pretty sure that was Ren. But Ren is actually a, uh…girl."

For a moment everyone was silent. "You don't sound too confident there Flynn," Yuri said first. Then again, he wasn't sure either. The Fox's voice was higher than a guy's but, while he didn't look masculine, he also didn't look very feminine. Of course those baggy clothes probably hid his figure.

"Well, Ren is a girl," Flynn stated looking a little flushed.

"But how do you know this criminal, commandant?" Sodia asked. Yuri could have sworn he heard a bit of jealousy in her voice she was trying to hide. Yuri was just as surprised. He thought he was Flynn's only friend who went around committing crimes.

The commandant tried to remain passive but there was still some red on his checks. "Ren used to be a research assistant for a mage that worked for Alexie. She kept to herself so I don't know much else about her. I thought I head that she had been killed by a monster attack three years ago," Flynn defended, knowing that they were going to ask more about Ren.

_This is certainly a change in things. _Yuri began to wonder if working for Alexie had turned her bat shit crazy. But then something reflecting the early morning sunlight in the grass nearby caught his eye.

While Rita was still trying to interrogate answers out Flynn, Yuri walked over and saw that it was a small silver bell with a little bit of blood on it. _It must have fallen off during the fight_, Yuri figured. Even the black ribbon was with it.

As Yuri bent down to pick it up, his fingers brushed against the metal and an electricity of pain shot up to his head and. He cried out and stood straight up as he clasped his hands to his head. Images passed through his mind but they were all in red. He couldn't make anything out in them.

They came so quick that it made Yuri want to hunch over and puke. But his body was refused to move to his will. His stomached moved just as much as the images.

He held his head together and waited for it to pass. But time seemed to pass slowly as the images seemed to want to rip though his head.

It wasn't until he felt Estelle's hands on his arms that he began to return to reality. "Damn it, what the hell was that?" He murmured in a shaky voice as he stared at the bell. Everyone else had their eyes on him. Repede was also at his side.

"What happened?" Estelle asked. She searched his face for any indication that he needed healing. She was clearly worried and she wouldn't let go of his arm until.

"I don't know, I touched that damn bell and…" Yuri started but he couldn't explain. He slammed his hand into his forehead. He could have sworn he saw something in the red. A person, maybe. But he had no intention to find out again.

"Could it be some sort of held item?" Karol speculated but kept his distance from the item.

"Who knows," Rita said, sounding more annoyed than anything.

In fact, the young mage walked over to the bell and was about to pick it up. "Rita, don't touch it," Estelle warned.

But Rita had already picked it up. Nothing seemed to be going wrong with her. She bounced the small bell in her hand making the item softly ring each time. Each time it ringed, it sent small burst of pain through Yuri's ears. He wondered why the ringing was causing him pain now instead of all the other times he heard the damn thing. "Nothing seems wrong to me." Rita said as she put the item in her pocket, probably to study it more later.

"Come on, let's try and stop Ren at the port," Flynn called their attention back. Very soon they continued through the path.

They had been so close to catching the Fox. They may have his or her name but that meant nothing if the Fox still got away. Ren truly was a fox.

/~/~/

_I should be safe at this distance, _Ren told herself as she slowed down to a walk. She hunched over to catch her breath after she had run about halfway to Nor Harbor. Wiping the dried blood from her eyes, she sat under a tree to assess her injuries.

Her back was burning from that guy's arte. But it was a dull pain compared to other injuries she'd had in the past. Ren reached up to her neck to check the wound and came to a sickening realization that the bell was gone. She felt like she was going to be sick. How could she not realize that it was gone? For the last two years she had worn that bell proudly on her neck.

"_If you want to stop me then you better kill me now,_" she remembered saying to that guy she had fought. _I got a little carried away back there_. It must have been then that she lost her memento. She wasn't sure if she was willing to die on a dirt road. Her adrenaline had been pumping and she just blurted it out without thinking. If she had been just a second slower, the guy she was fighting probably would have slit her throat.

There was a brief moment when she considered running back to get it. But it was luck that she survived two encounters with that group. A third one would lead to her death or worse, she would be put in the capital's prison. There was no telling what the Holy Knights would do to her. Ren would rather throw herself in the ocean then let them get her information.

So Ren stayed in her spot. Now she had lost her last connection with her family.

"Must we always rendezvous with you covered in blood?" A familiar voice said above her.

Ren looked up to see a small fox with three tails of multiple colors sitting on a low branch. She hadn't been paying much attention if she missed Verius' presence. Then again, it could be because she was used to him.

"Trust me Verius, its fortunate that I made it this far," Ren replied as she closed her eyes.

"Don't I know," she heard him say before she felt his small paws land on her shoulders. It wasn't long until she felt her wounds closing up. "As often as I heal you, I wouldn't be surprised if my life force was cut in half and I end up dying sooner."

"No one knows what the life span of a spirit is, so I guess there's no way of knowing for sure if you ever kick the bucket," Ren told him.

It didn't take long for Verius to finish healing her. This time her wounds weren't serious. Once he was done, he jumped down on Ren's lap. "So what are we going to do know that they saw your face? One of them even knew your name. Who was he?" Verius asked.

"You really expect me to remember some random knight?" Ren asked as she looked down at her friend. Her appearance had changed a lot over the last few years. Her hair was longer and her eye color was different.

She doubted _they _would recognize her if they thought she was dead. But the fact that blond guy recognized her meant that soon _they _will eventually start looking for her again. She and Verius would have to remain on their toes even more than before. "All I can think of is to go on with our mission. We're screwed if we don't fix this problem. Monsters have increased." Though the random monster attack did help her in the end. Maybe fate was on Ren's side.

Verius eyes turned sad and he refused to look at Ren. "We can't keep doing this on our own."

Ren ran her hand down his neck. This wasn't the first time they had this discussion. "I know. But who can we trust? Who won't die if they get involved?" It hadn't always been the two of them. But now it was.

The two of them were silent as they watched some Bunwigles playing by a nearby tree. They were chasing each other around the try like children would. The one doing the chasing finally tackled the other one. The two of them rolled around a bit before they started playing their game of tag again.

"There no time to waste," Verius said as he hopped off of Ren's lap. "The mana in Tolbyccia is growing more and more productive. You should probably get something at the harbor to help hide you face."

"Right," she agreed and she stood up. As she and Verius started to make their way to the harbor, she looked back one last time in the direction she fought those people, at the place she lost her most treasured possession.

_It's just a bell, _she tried to tell herself. But it still felt like she was leaving a part of herself behind. Other than Verius, that bell had been with her for as long as she could remember. It was the only thing that reminded her that she was Ren.

/~/~/

**Skit: Flynn and Ren**

**Raven:** So now that it's just us guys, care to share how you know Ren is a girl?

**Yuri: **Getting pretty noisy there, aren't you old man?

**Raven: **Don't tell me you're not the least bit curious.

**Yuri: **Point taken.

**Flynn**: Since Ren worked for a mage who did a bunch of field work, my unit would escort them to different places. I had heard that she died in a monster attack three years ago. I never would have thought I'd see her again.

**Raven: **But you didn't answer my question. How do you _know_ Ren is a girl?

**Yuri:** I never would have figured Flynn's type was crazy.

**Flynn **staying very calm**: **It certainly nothing like what the two of you are thinking. When I first saw her I thought she was boy. But then one of our missions brought us near a hot spring so the mage decided that we would stay there.

**Raven: **Now this story is turning interesting.

**Flynn: **I can assure you it's not. Anyway, I saw that Ren was heading to the women's bathing area so I stopped her and told her she shouldn't enter the women's area.

**Yuri: **What did she do after you said that?

**Flynn** looking rather embarrassed**:** She punched me, said she was a girl, and walked away.

**Raven: **Nothing may have happened but that's still one hell of a story. To think, the commandant can't tell the difference between men and women.

**Yuri: **And you say I don't understand women.

**Flynn:** You all didn't know she was a girl either!


End file.
